Key Afghan valley falls
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Associated Press
GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Advancing coalition forces claimed control today of the Shah-e-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan, sweeping up all but a few small groups of al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts as allied troops worked their way through the warren of mountain caves.
The announcement by U.S. forces came after high-flying U.S. B-1 bombers pounded al-Qaida and Taliban positions on a ridgeline that U.S. officers dubbed "the whale." The dull thud of distant detonations could be heard this morning in Gardez, about 20 miles northeast of the front line.
"In the past 24 hours our Afghan allies … have seized the objective area, the ridgeline known as the ‘whale’ … and the whole Shah-e-Kot valley," said Maj. Bryan Hilferty, spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division.
As U.S. bombers flew overhead, Afghan fighters maneuvered tanks into position for what commanders said would be a final push to eradicate al-Qaida fighters.
Hilferty said no more than 100 fighters were believed to still be in the area.
"The al-Qaida and Taliban are free to surrender," he said. "We’d love to have them surrender. But so far, they have all decided to die."
Afghan fighters loyal to commander Zia Lodin said they breached the first lines of al-Qaida and Taliban defenses Tuesday but were stopped by hostile fire and land mines.
U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopters flew what appeared to be small tanks into the battle area of Operation Anaconda at the base of the snowcapped Shah-e-Kot mountains.
"We will continue combat operations in this area until we remove these parasites from Afghanistan," said Maj. Bryan Hilferty, spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division.
As American troops steadily combed the rough terrain, U.S. officials rejected a suggestion by one of their Afghan allies that the remaining al-Qaida fighters be allowed to go free.
"We are not going to stop the fighting to make any deals," said Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, a spokesman for the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
At the Pentagon, Air Force Brig. Gen. John Rosa said U.S. and allied Afghan forces battled small pockets of enemy fighters in the Shah-e-Kot area Tuesday. Rosa said U.S. strike aircraft had dropped more than 100 bombs since Monday, bringing the total to more than 2,500 bombs since the offensive began March 2.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military disclosed that American fighter jets attacked a vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on March 6, killing 14 people, including women and children. One child was wounded.
The announcement by Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, said the wounded child was taken to a military hospital and was in stable condition.
A Central Command spokesman said it has not been determined whether all 15 people were civilians, but that U.S. officials believe they were somehow affiliated with al-Qaida. He did not know if they were Afghans.
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