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Afghanistan : All set for US ground attack

	October 22, 2001

Saving wiped out the fixed targets in two weeks of air raids on Afghanistan, the US Special Forces have joined the campaign to flush out Osama bin Laden. US formally opening a new front on Oct. 20 with US elite commandos and Army Rangers staging a lightning raid deep inside southern Afghanistan to attack a specific Taliban target. Defence officials declined to give details, but sources say as many as 100 commandos were involved in the raid early on Saturday, the first of its kind in a formal sense in Operation Enduring freedom. The helidropped commandos were drawn from the Army Rangers, the Delta Force and the Green Berets. Their target was the political and military stronghold of the Taliban in Kandahar. It was aimed at rooting out members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network as well.

The special forces destroyed a cache of arms and also raided a complex near Kandahar belonging to Mullah Omar. The US Military Joint Chief of Staff, Gen. Richard Meyers who showed footage of the action to newsmen however, said there were no causalities on the American side although the ground forces met some light resistance and inflicted some casualties. Gen. Meyers said, opening a ground war, the forces are refitting for future actions against targets known to harbour terrorists. He said, two major objectives of the Special Forces’ ground attack were the airfield and a Taliban command and control facility near Kandahar. The operation was intended to gather intelligence and the military was in the process of evaluating what was learned. The number of US personnel on the ground was just a handful and is unlikely to ever resemble the large number of conventional forces. But, their presence marks a turning point in only the second week of the conflict, heightening the risk to US forces and underscoring the seriousness of the Bush Administration’s commitment to projecting its war against terrorism.

The US has also deployed four slow-moving EC-13E “Commando Solo” psychological operations aircraft that could expect to see US troops on the ground. The AC-130 Spectre, a converted Hercules transport aircraft raked with cannon and machinegun fire, hit a Taliban stronghold in Kandahar on Oct. 17, linked to the fanatical 55 Brigade, the elite force of Arab and other foreign fighters loyal to osama bin laden. Military observers say, Pentagon’s decision to begin using low-flying AC-130 gunships signals the start of a bloody offensive against Taliban ground forces that will involve an arsenal of new helicopter-borne firepower and special forces. The AC-130 is one of the most lethal American war planes in terms of its ability to chew up ground forces.

The US is keen on ratcheting up the firepower by deploying low-flying AC-130s, which are known for their rapid and intense firepower. The Pentagon over the last two days, has been sending night-flying gunships to unleash havoc on Taliban troops and military installations. As many as four aircraft carriers in the sea and the Pentagon is using large and heavy bombers such as B-1 and B-51 as well. US has also started using its pilotless Predator plane for attack missions.

According to a UN relief agency spokesman, the intense strikes on targets in and around Kandahar had triggered a fresh wave of refugees crossing into Pakistan. Between 50 thousand to 60 thousand Afghans have fled to Pakistan since the onset of the strikes, she said. This week, the US did not suspend the air strikes even on Friday, the holy Muslim day and nearly one hundred fighters pounded the Afghan military targets in major cities.

The US has however, lost a helicopter gunship which crashed near the border of Pakistan killing two US crewmen. Three crew members were injured. The Taliban said they had shot down the helicopter, but the Americans say it is nonsense. They say the helicopter had crashed before landing. Taliban claimed that the Northern Alliance leader, Gen. Dostam had died. But, the report was denied by Gen. Dostam himself while appearing on a TV to confirm that he was hail and hearty.

The use of a small number of US troops in Afghanistan marks a shift to a broader range of military activities - overt and covert.

The US military is also extending assistance to the Opposition Northern Alliance whose forces are edging close to the strategic Northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif. A few US experts have been attached to them in their two-pronged final assault on the town which has been facilitated by the switching over of many Taliban commanders and soldiers to their side.

On the 12th day of the raids on Oct. 18, President Bush declared that the air strikes had seriously weakened Taliban’s defences paving the way for a ground war. He said as he left for APEC summit in Shanghai, China, that the enemy’s air force and air defences have been demolished. In a sign of the extent to which US fighter jets and bombers rule the Afghan skies, American pilots have increasingly set their sights in the last few days on blasting Taliban forces and militants with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and their vehicles wherever they are found, the Pentagon said.

Sources say, an Egyptian militant believed to be a close associate of Osama bin laden was killed in a US air raid. identified by his nom de guerra Abu Baseer Al Masri, he was killed by a US bomb near Jalalabad on Oct. 14. According to an American magazine New Yorker, the Taliban chief, Mullah Omar had come under the US gunsight on the very first night of the attack, but failed to kill him.

In the two weeks of attacks in which the US says it has run out of fixed targets and the warplanes were now in a clean-up mode, revisiting the targets in some cases, Mullah Omar has lost links with his commanders. Mullah Omar, who is currently in hiding, through a radio address, appealed to his followers on Oct. 17 “to wage the war against infidels till the last man standing”. The strength of most combat-ready element of Taliban forces is reduced to some 8000 men. With the odds seemingly stacked against him, Taliban supreme leader has told his men they were fighting a jihad, or holy struggle and not to fear death.



Taliban relents - Signals to turn over Osama

In the wake of the relentless strikes, the Taliban has begun to relent. The Deputy Prime Minister of Taliban, Haji Abdul Kabir, has made a conditional offer to the US for handing over Osama bin laden to a third country if the US was prepared to provide the necessary evidence about his involvement or any of his associates in the Sept. 11 attacks. US has quickly rejected the Taliban’s offer. The Taliban Foreign Minister, Mullah Abdul Wakil Mutawakil, who has flown to Islamabad amid reports of a rift in the Taliban with the moderate elements ready to surrender bin Laden, has also asked the Americans to slow down the bombing campaign so that moderates in the Afghan leadership can reconsider their refusal to hand over the Saudi dissident. He has asked Pakistan to convey his message to the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, during his visit to Pakistan on Oct. 15-16. But, the US says, the time of negotiations has now passed. There is now question of handing him over or not.



Bin Laden’s threat

In a message broadcast over al-Jazeera television channel, bin Laden has threatened the US and Britain with more suicide air plane attacks and cautioned Muslims against travelling by air or living in high-rise buildings. His spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith read out the message on the TV channel on Oct. 14 which urged America to withdraw their military forces from the Arab peninsula “or the land will burn with fire under their feet, God willing”. Mr. Ghaith, who has been stripped of his nationality by the Kuwait Government, said, “the storm of airplanes will not calm as long as you [the US and Britain] do not end your support for the Jews in Palestine, lift your embargoes from around Iraqi people and leave the Arabian peninsula.” The US has dismissed his threat as propaganda.

Meanwhile, the US has enlisted the services of a geologist who has spent years mapping rock formations in Afghanistan to find the cave Osama bin laden may be using to hide. Mr. Jack Shroder, a Professor at Nebraska University, claimed that he knows where bin Laden might be hiding. He said, Osama must be hiding in Katawaz basin in Paktia and Paktika provinces, 200 kilometres from Kabul. Paktia’s capital, Khost, is a strong pro-Taliban town and is located in natural bowl surrounded by rugged mountains which provided refuge to all the seven leading Mujahideen groups fighting the soviets in the 1080s, sources said. During this period, the Russian garrison in Khost had to be supplied by air. In their nine year occupation, the Russians launched multiple attacks in the surrounding mountains, some with special forces, attack helicopters, artillery barrages, aircraft and even scud missiles, but failed.

Even the US cruise missile attack on the bases of bin Laden after the bombing of two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania had failed to kill Osama bin Laden. In a related development, the Guardian of London has claimed that China paid bin Laden several million dollars for access to unexploded American cruise missiles left over from the US attack on his bases in 1998.

The USA is also looking for three blue eyed boys of bin Laden. They are the world’s most blacklisted men whom President Bush wants “dead or alive”. In the recently announced list of 22 most wanted terrorists by the FBI, three men these men named - Dr. Ayman al Zawahri, the Amir of Cairo-based al-Jihad group that merged with al Qaeda, Mohammed Atef and Saif al Adel, also Egyptian nationals - are said to be the closest associates of bin Laden.

Meanwhile, three aides of bin Laden, convicted in a court in New York in the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in Africa were sentenced to life without parole on Oct. 18. Khalfan Khamis Mohammed of Tanzania, Mohamed Rashed al-Owahali of Saudi Arabia and Mohammed Sadeek Odeh, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the conspiracy.



Pak bid to split Taliban

If reports from Pakistan are to be believed, a conspiracy is being hatched initiated by Pakistan to create a rift in the Taliban, ditch the hardliners in the Taliban as well as Osama bin laden and get together the moderates from the Taliban to form the next Government. The sudden arrival of the of the Taliban Foreign Minister, Mutawakil and the Taliban military commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials has triggered rumours that Islamabad is trying to persuade them to break off from the Taliban. Haqqani has been holding talks with the ISI agents and the meetings are being held at Miranshah in the NWFP. Both Pakistan and the US are gambling heavily on Haqani. He is a powerful Pathan commander with sufficient influence in the Kabul area to swing a large portion of the Taliban army away from Omar and his Kandahari clique. Haqqani’s base is Paktia and Paktika provinces, both bordering Pakistan. He is believed amenable to Pakistani overtures as he joined the Taliban late in the day. In addition, during the war against Soviet occupation, he was a colleague of Hizb-e-Islami chief, Younis Khalis. the provinces Haqqani commands have lately shown displeasure with the Taliban. to help woo Haqqani, the ISI has persuaded the US not to include Khost,m Gardez or Khurna on its bombing lists.

The ISI wants a post-Taliban dispensation with Pathan elements who have close links to Islamabad. Haqqani commands considerable support among eastern Pathans. He, the Taliban economics affairs, Abdul Kabeer, and the Education Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, are being seen by the ISI as candidates for a future Afghan government in which Pakistan influence remains strong.

Similarly, Foreign Minister Muttawakil, who still swears by his loyalty with Mullah Omar, is identified by the Pakistani and world media as part of the so-called “liberal element” in the Taliban. He is at present acting as a conduit between the US and some sections of the Taliban. Gen. Musharraf has also convinced the “creator” of Taliban, Maulana Samiullah Haq of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam, to influence the Taliban Ministers, and officials to adopt a more moderate stance. Maulana Haq has personally indoctrinated what are now the cadres of the Taliban. He has reportedly agreed to cooperate with the Pakistan government to isolate Mullah Omar and convince the other Taliban leaders that “the battle to save Osama is not a battle for Islam”. His cooperation will prove invaluable for Pakistan and the US in the joint attempt to split the Taliban and incorporate the so-called moderate elements in the new Government.



Contours of a new government

Pakistan’s argument against giving centrestage to the Northern Alliance in the proposed alternative has convinced the United States, which shares Islamabad’s worry about this group’s proximity to Russia, India and Iran. The Taliban,m which was a joint creation of Pakistan and the US, is now in the process of being salvaged by both these countries through the thin and not very convincing distinction between the Mullah Omar group and the “moderates” within.

The post-Taliban scenario is reported to have been discussed by Gen. Musharraf with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who visited Islamabad on Oct. 15-16. Their talks produced the first recognizable contours of an interim post Taliban government for Afghanistan, diplomatic and Afghan sources said. Concerned that intensifying military action will topple Afghanistan’s extremist Islamic regime before a political framework is in place, Pakistan and the US scrambled to assemble a successor body that would include royalists led by former King Zahir Shah, tribal elders, ethnic representatives, politicians, overseas Afghans and even “moderate” elements” of the Taliban movement. The general outline of the new political framework is that it will be organized around the 87-year old former monarch Mohammad Zaher Shah, who was deposed in 1973 and has lived in Rome since. Under the plan, the different factions and interest groups would nominate candidates for an interim Afghan ruling council.

For several weeks, representatives of the different groups have travelled to Rome for an audience with the king. Concurrent with Powell’s visit to Islamabad, a three-man delegation representing the King, led by royal aide Hedayat Amin Arsala, met with Musharraf and other senior Pakistani officials. Mutawakil also met Zahir Shah’s adviser. The French and Italian Foreign Ministers also met King Zahir Shah, 87, in Rome, and later said that his plan to create an alternative Government could become a reality quickly. A survey conducted by a Pakistan-based agency across Afghanistan earlier this year has concluded that 82 per cent of the 3000 people survey concluded that Zahir Shah must return home to initiate a political dialogue. A minority did say no to Zahir.

Gen. Musharraf’s desire to involve the moderate elements of the Taliban and King Zaheer Shah is motivated by his desire to keep the Northern Alliance forces away from the reigns of power. The Northern Alliance, which draws its support from Afghanistan’s ethnic Tajik and Uzbek minorities, is reportedly unhappy about the discussions under way between Pakistan and the King’s envoy and fear they might be marginalised f a fresh agreement emerges.

Under the agreement the Northern Alliance concluded with King Zaheer Shah when they sent a delegation to Rome, they would be given 60 of the 120 seats on the Supreme Council of Afghan elders which will then convene a Loya Jirga or a meeting of tribals and ethnic chiefs to elect a head of State and a transitional government. On its side, the royal family is worried that the Northern Alliance might retaliate by launching an attack on Kabul. The Tajik element of the Northern Alliance led by Burhanuddin Rabbani has indicated that it would opt out of the tentative agreement with Zahir Shah to convene a Supreme Council.

Government of India, which has pitched high stakes in Afghanistan, is actively monitoring the transition debate. But, its own views on the subject is yet to cyrstalise. The dominant perception however, favours an arrangement in Kabul where the indigenous Afghan voice is represented prominently. Transition in Afghanistan, it is understood, was discussed during the telephonic conversation between the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh with his British and French counterparts in the last two days as well as the visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister.

India so far has been actively backing the Northern Alliance, but would like the majority Pashtoon element, which the alliance does not fully represent, to be included in a broad-based arrangement in Afghanistan in the future. India, along with Russia, Iran and now France, oppose accommodation of Taliban in any form in any future government in Afghanistan. After talks, the visiting Russian First deputy Foreign Minister, V. Trubnikov, dismissed the idea of accommodation of “moderate Taliban” in a new Government.

Analysts point out that it would be in India’s interest if the Northern Alliance makes military gains on the ground. In case it can capture more territory it will, to that extent, acquire greater leverage for influencing a new transitional arrangement in Afghanistan. But, the Americans are dissuading them to advance towards Kabul, from where they are just 50 kilometres away telling them to wait for the finalization of the blueprint of a transitional government.

Sources say, in its effort to ensure that a friendly regime is installed in Afghanistan post Taliban, Delhi is consulting with key world players to put in place a 120-member Council that will elect a new ruler. The new ruler will be a “transitional head” that will help restore peace in Afghanistan till a more permanent head of State can be elected. According to the proposal, the Council will have 50 members each from the Northern Alliance and the Pakhtoons and 20 from other ethnic groups. It also suggests that if the Council fails to unanimously elect a leader, deposed Afghan King Zahir Shah should e appointed “transitional head”. the argument is that Shah, who is in exile in Italy, is only interested in bringing peace to Afghanistan, not hanging on to power.



Deeper involvement of Pakistan

Pakistan in the meanwhile, is getting more and more involved in the US military action although initially Musharraf had said his Government would only give logistical support and that the US would not be allowed to launch ground attacks from its soil. However, in a complete U-turn of this assurance, Pakistan has allowed the US soldiers to land at an airbase in Jacobabad where many US transport planes landed with hundreds of US military personnel. The Pakistan Government is reported to have given the US access to three air fields at Jacocabad, Dalbandin, 270 km southwest of the Provincial capital Quetta and about 70 km from Afghanistan border and Pasni, from where the US Special Forces commandos are believed to have taken off. There were anti-US and anti-Musharraf protests at Jacobabad after reports surfaced about the US military personnel landing there. However, Musharraf has dealt the street protests with a heavy hand and put under house arrest three religious leaders who were spearheading the stir.

Pakistan is in an upbeat mood because after it pledged support for the US military campaign, heads of States and important Ministers, particularly from the West, are making a beeline to Pakistan with all sorts of goodies as a reward for its bold decision to side with the US. The visiting British Secretary of State for International development, Ms Claire Short, announced the waiver of 20 million pound due from Islamabad on account of the interest it has to pay for the loans it has raised. The next day it was the turn of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, to show the solidarity of his country with the people and leadership of Pakistan. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, has decided to include Islamabad in his trip to New Delhi and Beijing. Us Secretary of State, Gen. Powell, was in Islamabad on Oct. 16.

The US has responded to the Pakistani pledge with the removal of all military and economic sanctions. The waiver of sanctions means that the overdue foreign loans of over 35 billion dollars will be for all practical purposes written off and shipments of defence supplies to Pakistan will resume. To the smiling Pakistan, the message from the waiver must have been clear: Live recklessly, behave arrogantly, drive the economy to the fringe of bankruptcy, and one day with the help of a little shrewdness, deep pocketed needy countries can be asked to come and clean up the whole mess for you and place you once more on the top of the world, free to engage in another long era of economic and financial mismanagement.



Anthrax terror

For the United States, on the other hand, before the Taliban terrorism could be contained, another kind of terrorism, bio-terrorism, is waiting in the wings. So far one person has died and eight people have been affected by the anthrax bacteria infection. In the last case, American officials have found traces of anthrax in office buildings in Washington DC. The traces were found in the House of Representatives. The first delivery of an anthrax laced letter was to the office of the Democratic majority leader, Tom Daschle. A letter received in the office of Tom Daschle was found to have anthrax in it. After this as many as 31 staffers of Daschle’s staff tested positive for exposure to the dreaded infection, a development which prompted the authorities to order a shutdown of the House of Representatives on Oct. 16. Authorities discovered that the anthrax, which had passed through a scanner at the Senate’s mail room before going to Daschle’s office, had got into the ventilation system. Investigations so far point to striking similarities on the origin of the anthrax mail sent to Daschle’s office and the one dispatched earlier to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw. Both letters had the postmark of Trenton, New Jersey and the handwriting on the envelopes was identical. Brokaw’s colleague opened the letter and he contracted the infection and is undergoing treatment.

All sort of guesswork is being made as to who was behind the new terror but still the FBI or the newly-created Home Security Office have failed to link it to any organized terrorism. But, it has all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. Some US investigators have named Iraq as the prime suspect as the source of the deadly spores. US intelligence believes Iraq has the technology and supplies of anthrax suitable for terrorist use. Scientists investigating the attacks say the bacteria used is similar to the “Ames strain” of anthrax originally cultivated at Iowa State University in the 1950s and later given to labs throughout the world including Iraq. Some observers, however, fear linking Saddam to the terrorist attacks is part of an agenda being driven by the US hawks eager to broaden the war to include Iraq. the hawks winning the ear of President Bush are assembled around Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz and a think tank, the Defence Policy Advisory Board, named the “Wolfowitz cabal”.

Anthrax is a rod-shaped bacterium that can survive for very long periods by forming hardy spores about 1 micron across [a thousandth of a millimeter]. When spores enter an animal or human host, they revive and produce a toxin. Humans cannot transmit the disease. Cutaneous anthrax is caused by contact with skin and infection of cut and abrasions. Pulmonary anthrax is caused by inhaling spore-bearing particles between 1 and 5 microns. Intestinal anthrax is cased by ingestion of anthrax spores, normally on contaminated meat. Anthrax can be delivered as a weapon by post i.e. posting an envelope containing a letter laced with cutaneous anthrax, or spraying by a crop-duster or exploding a bomb. many spores would be destroyed in the explosion, but it can still cause cutaneous infection.

Anthrax fear has gripped the people worldwide. In India, postal sorters at the foreign post offices in the four metropolitan cities are to be given masks and gloves. Taking a cue from the precautions taken by several countries against the anthrax terror, Delhi Police have decided to equip Police Control Room vans with latex gloves, face masks, polythene bags and other necessary equipment to enable them to handle distress calls. India has offered the US a gift of $1 million worth of the antibiotic Cipraflaxin, to help it tackle the problem of anthrax. The offer has been made as the US is facing a shortage of the antibiotic in the wake of a rash of anthrax cases in that country.