2RHPZ
05-12-2004, 05:45 PM
SAS joins fresh bid to snare bin Laden
Jason Burke, chief reporter
Sunday February 29, 2004
The Observer
American and British forces have launched a dramatic new effort to capture or
kill Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.
SAS detachments will join thousands of US troops - including a 'super-secret'
special forces unit transferred from Iraq - and contingents of Afghan soldiers
in a huge sweep of mountainous border areas where the terrorists are believed to
be hiding.
The push will be the biggest such operation for 18 months. Attempts to find the
fugitives last year were hindered by a lack of special forces soldiers - most of
whom had been deployed in Iraq - and the failure of Pakistan to cut off escape
routes by closing its border with Afghanistan. Harsh winter conditions in recent
months have made movement in the high ground where bin Laden is thought to be
hiding impossible.
Thousands of Pakistani troops and paramilitaries are preparing to move into
positions along the 1,520-mile frontier to act as an 'anvil' against which the
US-led 'hammer' can strike. Reports from an Iranian news agency yesterday that
bin Laden has been captured proved false but Washington is confident the Saudi-born
militant will be killed or captured within a year.
The operation will be led by the ultra-secret Task Force 121 - a unit of elite
Navy SEALs and Delta Force soldiers led by top intelligence analysts that was
formed by the Pentagon last year to head the hunt for Saddam Hussein.
Key personnel from the unit have now been transferred to Afghanistan. The
Americans are also expected to draw on British elite forces. Soldiers from
territorial army units 21 SAS and 23 SAS have recently arrived in Afghanistan to
join their full-time counterparts. Unmanned Predator drones have also been
switched from Iraq to Afghanistan. The Predator is equipped with Hellfire
missiles and powerful spy cameras which can follow cars or even individuals from
thousands of feet up.
Bin Laden, 47, is believed to be hiding with his partner Ayman al-Zawahiri, an
Egyptian militant, in the mountains lining the border. The terrain and
sympathetic tribesmen offer substantial protection. Al-Zawahiri issued two tapes
last week calling for attacks on the 'Crusader-Zionist alliance'. In one he
referred to the recent controversy in France over the banning of the Islamic
veil from schools, making it clear he was alive at least a month ago.
The hunt is being boosted by a computer program developed in Iraq to locate
'high value human targets'. The program charts links between thousands of people
associated with a fugitive, allowing intelligence officers to detect key
individuals who might have vital information.
The Americans are also employing 'psychological operations' against bin Laden,
allowing news of the new push to leak into the media. US intelligence
specialists know that, like Saddam, bin Laden and his aides monitor the media
and are hoping that news of the operation will 'flush out' the terrorist leader,
forcing him to leave winter hideouts for fear they have become known to the
coalition or to Pakistan.
'The sands in their hourglass are running out. We reaffirm our effort to track
these guys down and get 'em,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Beevers, a US
military spokesman in Afghanistan.
Officials are careful not to seem over-confident. Beevers admitted that if
coalition forces knew where bin Laden and his men were, 'we'd already have him'.
Last week Donald Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary, played down the prospect of
catching bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.
Most intelligence analysts believe bin Laden and a small number of associates
have been hiding somewhere between the eastern Afghan city of Khost and the
southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta since slipping the net drawn round them by
American forces at the cave complex of Tora Bora in December 2001.
American intelligence officials say bin Laden recently crossed into Afghanistan
from Pakistan, where they believe he was being sheltered in the remote south
Waziristan tribal agency by local leaders, during the winter. Mullah Omar is
believed to be on the move in the areas of south eastern Afghanistan where
support for the Taliban is strongest, travelling remote desert and mountain
regions by motorbike.
Both bin Laden and Mullah Omar have been assisted by the fiercely autonomous,
heavily armed tribes which straddle the border. Pakistan has adopted a 'carrot
and stick' policy towards the tribesmen, many of whom see bin Laden as a hero.
Pakistani troops using helicopters and artillery flattened three housing
compounds and detained at least 20 people last Tuesday in a remote region where
bin Laden and other al-Qaeda fugitives are believed to have hidden recently.
Four of the detainees were from the Middle East, the rest from the local Pashtun
tribes. On Friday armed tribesmen raided a military compound in south Waziristan
and 11 men died in a shoot-out at a border post.
Jason Burke, chief reporter
Sunday February 29, 2004
The Observer
American and British forces have launched a dramatic new effort to capture or
kill Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.
SAS detachments will join thousands of US troops - including a 'super-secret'
special forces unit transferred from Iraq - and contingents of Afghan soldiers
in a huge sweep of mountainous border areas where the terrorists are believed to
be hiding.
The push will be the biggest such operation for 18 months. Attempts to find the
fugitives last year were hindered by a lack of special forces soldiers - most of
whom had been deployed in Iraq - and the failure of Pakistan to cut off escape
routes by closing its border with Afghanistan. Harsh winter conditions in recent
months have made movement in the high ground where bin Laden is thought to be
hiding impossible.
Thousands of Pakistani troops and paramilitaries are preparing to move into
positions along the 1,520-mile frontier to act as an 'anvil' against which the
US-led 'hammer' can strike. Reports from an Iranian news agency yesterday that
bin Laden has been captured proved false but Washington is confident the Saudi-born
militant will be killed or captured within a year.
The operation will be led by the ultra-secret Task Force 121 - a unit of elite
Navy SEALs and Delta Force soldiers led by top intelligence analysts that was
formed by the Pentagon last year to head the hunt for Saddam Hussein.
Key personnel from the unit have now been transferred to Afghanistan. The
Americans are also expected to draw on British elite forces. Soldiers from
territorial army units 21 SAS and 23 SAS have recently arrived in Afghanistan to
join their full-time counterparts. Unmanned Predator drones have also been
switched from Iraq to Afghanistan. The Predator is equipped with Hellfire
missiles and powerful spy cameras which can follow cars or even individuals from
thousands of feet up.
Bin Laden, 47, is believed to be hiding with his partner Ayman al-Zawahiri, an
Egyptian militant, in the mountains lining the border. The terrain and
sympathetic tribesmen offer substantial protection. Al-Zawahiri issued two tapes
last week calling for attacks on the 'Crusader-Zionist alliance'. In one he
referred to the recent controversy in France over the banning of the Islamic
veil from schools, making it clear he was alive at least a month ago.
The hunt is being boosted by a computer program developed in Iraq to locate
'high value human targets'. The program charts links between thousands of people
associated with a fugitive, allowing intelligence officers to detect key
individuals who might have vital information.
The Americans are also employing 'psychological operations' against bin Laden,
allowing news of the new push to leak into the media. US intelligence
specialists know that, like Saddam, bin Laden and his aides monitor the media
and are hoping that news of the operation will 'flush out' the terrorist leader,
forcing him to leave winter hideouts for fear they have become known to the
coalition or to Pakistan.
'The sands in their hourglass are running out. We reaffirm our effort to track
these guys down and get 'em,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Beevers, a US
military spokesman in Afghanistan.
Officials are careful not to seem over-confident. Beevers admitted that if
coalition forces knew where bin Laden and his men were, 'we'd already have him'.
Last week Donald Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary, played down the prospect of
catching bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.
Most intelligence analysts believe bin Laden and a small number of associates
have been hiding somewhere between the eastern Afghan city of Khost and the
southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta since slipping the net drawn round them by
American forces at the cave complex of Tora Bora in December 2001.
American intelligence officials say bin Laden recently crossed into Afghanistan
from Pakistan, where they believe he was being sheltered in the remote south
Waziristan tribal agency by local leaders, during the winter. Mullah Omar is
believed to be on the move in the areas of south eastern Afghanistan where
support for the Taliban is strongest, travelling remote desert and mountain
regions by motorbike.
Both bin Laden and Mullah Omar have been assisted by the fiercely autonomous,
heavily armed tribes which straddle the border. Pakistan has adopted a 'carrot
and stick' policy towards the tribesmen, many of whom see bin Laden as a hero.
Pakistani troops using helicopters and artillery flattened three housing
compounds and detained at least 20 people last Tuesday in a remote region where
bin Laden and other al-Qaeda fugitives are believed to have hidden recently.
Four of the detainees were from the Middle East, the rest from the local Pashtun
tribes. On Friday armed tribesmen raided a military compound in south Waziristan
and 11 men died in a shoot-out at a border post.