U.S. continues to bomb cornered al-Qaida forces

By Chris Tomlinson

Associated Press

TORA BORA, Afghanistan- A U.S. B-52 aircraft bombed Osama bin Laden’s mountain refuge today about one hour after a deadline had passed for the surrender of cornered al-Qaida forces.

After the air raid, Mohammed Lal, a senior commander with the U.S-supported Eastern Alliance, told The Associated Press that the surrender had only been been delayed and was still expected to take place.

“They are running late. But they have agreed to come down the mountain in groups of between 20 and 40 men,” Lal said. “We are clearing the area to make a safe place for their surrender.”

Journalists were kept away from the area by alliance fighters. It was unclear whether the bombs directly hit a canyon occupied by al-Qaida members. However, gunfire could be heard coming from the area.

The Eastern Alliance, which overran al-Qaida’s positions on Tuesday, gave their mainly Arab opponents until 8 a.m. today (7:30 p.m. PST Tuesday) to disarm and walk out of the Tora Bora area, saying they would otherwise face a massive attack.

About 30 minutes after the surrender deadline, the alliance’s defense chief Mohammed Zaman said: “No Arabs have come out, yet.”

Zaman smiled and cocked his head when asked if U.S. military personnel were operating in the area.

U.S. warplanes also carried out bombing raids before dawn in the area today. And, as the surrender deadline passed, a B-52 bomber circled menacingly over Tora Bora, leaving a spiraling white vapor trail in the blue sky.

It dropped its payload about an hour later.

There was no immediate details on possible casualties from the air raid.

It was also unclear whether bin Laden was among the foreign fighters who were stranded in the canyon on Tuesday after a fierce tribal assault and devastating U.S. airstrikes, which included 15,000-pound “daisy cutter” bombs, flattened hillsides and scattered debris over the barren, wind-swept hills.

On Tuesday afternoon, some of the foreign al-Qaida supporters had contacted tribal commanders by radio and pleaded for the chance to give up.

Pentagon officials said the war against terrorism was far from over and that some al-Qaida members might be hiding in the underground network of caves and tunnels.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington that there were “literally thousands” of caves in the Tora Bora area. He said American troops entered some caves, but he did not know if they had been used by al-Qaida.

Meanwhile, in southern Afghanistan, U.S. Marines patrolled roads leading from the fallen Taliban city of Kandahar, searching for Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives. Marine spokesman Capt. David Romley said low-ranking Taliban soldiers from Afghanistan who surrender their arms will be allowed to go free, but those who refuse will be killed.

The whereabouts of bin Laden, who U.S. officials suspected was in Tora Bora, remained unclear. One tribal commander claimed scouts spotted the Saudi exile with al-Qaida troops in the area Monday.

Tuesday’s advance on Tora Bora occurred three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which the United States blames on bin Laden. President Bush launched airstrikes on Afghanistan on Oct. 7 after the former ruling Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden.

In other developments:

  • U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met leaders of rival Afghan factions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and said an interim administration under Pashtun tribal leader Hamid Karzai was on track for its planned Dec. 22 inauguration.

  • Secretary of State Colin Powell said Britain will take the lead role in overseeing the peacekeeping force for Afghanistan. A British official said, however, London still wanted to see details of the plan.

  • The Red Cross said Tuesday it was investigating reports that dozens of Taliban captives suffocated in shipping containers while being taken to prison in northern Afghanistan.

  • The United States said James Dobbins, the U.S. diplomat who steered rival Afghan factions into an interim government, will reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

  • An Australian man who trained with the al-Qaida network has been captured in Afghanistan by northern alliance forces, Australia’s government said today.

    Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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