Associated Press And The Boston Globe
TORA BORA, Afghanistan — Besieged al-Qaida fighters offered again Saturday to surrender as a new report surfaced that Osama bin Laden could be in the region. Opposition commanders feared the offer was just another ploy, and U.S. bombers kept up a relentless attack from the air.
While bin Laden’s whereabouts remained a subject of speculation, two U.S. officials said American forces heard him giving orders to besieged loyalists over short-range radio this past week in the Tora Bora area during heavy U.S. bombardment. It was the first solid evidence that bin Laden is — or at least recently was — within reach of the U.S. airstrikes and Afghan ground attacks that are thrusting his fighters into apparent disarray.
The voice was identified as bin Laden’s through comparisons with his voice from several videotapes, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One of the officials said bin Laden spoke in brief bursts over the radio, probably concerned that longer transmissions would help his foes zero in. The official called the transmissions "more inspirational than tactical," according to the Knight Ridder news service.
Typically, walkie-talkies cannot reach beyond 2 miles and other short-range radio broadcasts cannot reach beyond 5 miles. The mountainous terrain around Tora Bora probably would reduce those ranges, suggesting that bin Laden was close to the combat that has raged in the area for more than a week.
Tribal commanders, meanwhile, said they feared being duped by a new surrender offer from the predominantly foreign fighters of bin Laden’s terrorist bands in the Tora Bora area, the last major pocket of al-Qaida resistance in Afghanistan.
Two earlier surrender negotiations proved pointless and gave al-Qaida vital time to regroup or flee the region.
"Don’t give them time! They’re taking advantage of time," an Eastern Alliance commander could be heard saying over two-way radio.
From the air, however, there was no cease-fire as U.S. planes pummeled the region, particularly the area around a heavily guarded cave where tribal commanders think bin Laden may be hiding.
Even as Eastern Alliance fighters streamed out of the mountains to pray on Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, B-52s dropped incendiary bombs in the surrounding forest today.
The bombardment continued an extremely heavy air attack over the previous two days in which 450 bombs were dropped in support of opposition fighters. The fighters, aided by U.S. and British troops, closed in Saturday on an estimated 1,000 al-Qaida fighters.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, during a stop in the Caucasus nation of Georgia, said no al-Qaida fighters had surrendered Saturday.
Pakistan said Saturday it arrested 37 Arabs — including 31 Yemenis — sneaking into the country from Tora Bora. Officials said the men admitted belonging to al-Qaida and said U.S. bombing had forced them to flee, dropping their weapons.
Haji Zahir, one of three militia commanders involved in the Tora Bora attack, said he was skeptical about the surrender talks, which were being conducted by two-way radio.
"I have told my forces to hold their positions, because I don’t believe them," Zahir said. "The first and last condition is that they surrender."
In radio transmissions monitored by The Associated Press, al-Qaida commanders were heard to argue about whether, not how, to surrender.
Said Mohammed Pawhalan said al-Qaida had divided into at least two groups, one Chechen and one of Arabic speakers, with only the Arabs wanting to give up.
Meanwhile, on alliance radio, a tribal fighter was heard saying 60 Chechens had fled, leaving behind six wounded and many dead. "What do you want us to do with them?" the fighter asked his commander, who said to hold the prisoners until reinforcements arrived.
The Tora Bora region is the last major pocket of al-Qaida resistance in the country.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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