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Al-Qaeda positions attacked in Tora Bora
AGAM (Afghanistan), DEC. 5. Local Afghan militia backed by tanks and a U.S. B-52 bomber attacked positions held by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda fighters today at the Tora Bora cave complex in eastern Afghanistan.
The attack, witnessed by an AFP correspondent, came as local commanders announced a major offensive against the Al-Qaeda, and U.S. warplanes continued to pound the area relentlessly in the hunt for the world's most wanted man. A commander, Mr. Sohrab Khan, said his forces controlled half of the mountainous region around Tora Bora and fighting with the Al-Qaeda forces was continuing.
From a hillside in the district of Agam, three Soviet-made T-55 tanks were seen shelling Al-Qaeda positions in the snow-capped mountains about 2 km. away. Lower down, Mr. Khan's forces exchanged artillery fire with foreign fighters of the Al-Qaeda. A B-52 bomber made several runs over the area, dropping two bombs on Al-Qaeda positions on the mountainside, which sent huge plumes of smoke into the clear skies.
A commander said by radio that his troops had captured a tank belonging to Osama's forces. U.S. men killed
Two U.S. troops were killed and 20 injured along with an unknown number of anti-Taliban forces in a mistaken B-52 bombing north of Kandahar, the U.S. Central Command said in Washington. The incident took place when a B-52 bomber, flying in support of opposition forces, ``dropped its ordnance in close proximity to friendly forces,'' the Tampa, Florida-based Command said in a statement.
Zawahiri injured
Ayman al Zawahiri, the right-hand man to Osama, was reported injured in a U.S. air attack in the Tora Bora region, Al-Jazeera television network said.
Several of his family members reportedly died in the attack, including three girls or women, the report monitored in Cairo said on Tuesday. An Al-Jazeera report monitored in Cyprus said Zawahiri's wife and two of his four daughters - Khadigah and Nabila - were killed.
Al-Qaeda shifts missiles
Al-Qaeda has shifted 20 Russian-made Oragan missiles to Tora Bora for use against the U.S.-led forces. The Frontier Post quoting well-placed sources in the eastern council at Jalalabad said that Al-Qaeda members had shifted the missiles and a huge quantity of Russian-made heavy weapons from their Jalalabad base to Tora Bora.
The Al-Qaeda men had also taken thousands of pressure cookers and tonnes of urea fertilizer, the newspaper said.
- AFP, Reuters, DPA, UNI
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