British Troops Already Clash with Taliban

British troops clash with Taliban in Afghanistan




Crack British troops have clashed with Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan, according to a British newspaper.

Nobody was hurt in the shoot-out, with Taliban forces near Kabul fleeing soon after the SAS troops fired off the first shots of the war against terrorism, the Sunday Times said.

Military sources said the SAS' gunfire had been more symbolic than directed and the aim was to "spook" the Afghani fighters. The Afghanis fired indiscriminately and then ran away.

The Taliban are in a high state of alert for coalition forces waiting to enter their country. It is rare for Ministry of Defense insiders to confirm that their forces have been involved in skirmishes, but a source close to the SAS told the Sunday Times there had been a clash late Friday. SAS troopers, together with members of MI6 and the CIA, are working with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in the search for Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi-born millionaire suspected of masterminding the suicide hijacker attacks on the United States on Sept. 11 in which over 6,800 are feared to have died.

Intelligence organizations are seeking information about Bin Laden's whereabouts, the location of mines, routes he might take out of the country and the help of guides for later operations.

SAS troopers specialize in long-term operations behind enemy lines, making them ideal for intelligence-gathering missions in Afghanistan.

The soldiers involved in the clash with the Taliban were believed to be from a four-man unit that had crossed the border, possibly from Tajikistan.

U.S. forces are also on the move. Advance units of two United States Army divisions are on the Afghan border preparing for strikes against the Taliban regime.

Units of the 82nd Airborne and 101st Air Assault Divisions arrived at bases in Pakistan, near the border towns of Quetta and Peshawar, as a huge build- up of ships, aircraft and troops ordered to the region by U.S. President George Bush continued.

A Pentagon official declared that the military was ready to respond "the second the president pushes the button".

U.S. military aircraft carrying reconnaissance equipment landed yesterday at a base near Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It also emerged that U.S. attack helicopters are still stationed inside Uzbekistan after recent joint military exercises. Northern Alliance rebels were reported to be advancing towards Mazar-i-Sharif, a possible bridgehead into Afghanistan for American forces.

Military tension was heightened by reports in Pakistan that an unidentified reconnaissance drone had been shot down over Afghanistan. If the aircraft was American, the incident would indicate that U.S. forces have launched scouting missions.

U.S. officials said the military campaign would fall into two phases: an opening salvo of missiles and aerial bombing restricted to targets inside Afghanistan, followed by a potentially protracted ground campaign spearheaded by American and British special forces.

Early targets are expected to include the airport at Kabul, communications towers and power supplies. Terrorist targets in other countries might be considered once all U.S. forces heading for the region are in place, the sources said.

In the latest deployments, the U.S. amphibious assault ship Essex left Sasebo Naval Base in Nagasaki Prefecture, followed by the nuclear-powered submarine, Bremerton.

The two vessels departed a day after the U.S.S Kitty Hawk's aircraft carrier battle group left its homeport of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. More than 100 warplanes, among them B-1 and B-52 bombers, are also believed to be ready to begin flying missions. (Mainichi Shimbun, Sept. 23, 2001)