http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Mar13.html
U.S. Launches New Operation in Afghanistan
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 14, 2004; Page A22
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 13 -- U.S. military officials announced Saturday that they had begun a major new operation in southern and eastern Afghanistan aimed at "destroying terrorist organizations and infrastructure."
The officials stopped short of identifying the operation, called Mountain Storm, as the long-anticipated spring offensive against Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the region.
Instead, they described it as a continuation of anti-terrorist operations that have been underway in the region for months.
"It is the next in a continuing series of operations . . . a continuing effort to keep pressure on terrorist organizations and their infrastructure," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, chief spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
Asked if Mountain Storm would focus on hunting down the al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, and his aides, Hilferty said the operation was "certainly about more than one person." But he added, "We believe this will help bring the heads of terrorist organizations to justice by continuing to place pressure on them."
Hilferty did not release any details of the new operation, other than to say it had begun March 7 and would include patrols, raids, ground searches for weapons and some air attacks. He did not say how many U.S. troops would be involved.
There are now about 13,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, several thousand of whom have arrived in recent weeks. There have been several reports of additional troops and weapons being sent to Afghanistan in preparation for a major military campaign.
There are also reports that a highly specialized commando team, previously based in Iraq and involved in the successful hunt for former dictator Saddam Hussein, has been transferred here. Those reports have boosted speculation about an intensified hunt for bin Laden, who once lived in Afghanistan and supported the former Islamic Taliban movement.
The launching of Mountain Storm in the rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan coincides with stepped-up efforts by Pakistani troops to conduct anti-terrorist sweeps in that country's semi-autonomous tribal borderlands, where Islamic extremists, possibly including bin Laden, are widely believed to be hiding.
Senior U.S. military officials here have previously described the parallel Pakistani and U.S. military operations as having a "hammer and anvil" effect on Islamic extremist groups operating or hiding in the porous border wilderness and tribal areas.
Hilferty described in detail the methods and results of an earlier, two-month U.S. military operation in the border area, called Mountain Blizzard, and suggested the new operation might be conducted in a similar manner.
He said that operation involved 1,731 patrols and 143 raids, in which 22 enemy fighters were killed and weapons caches were discovered containing 3,648 rockets, 3,202 mortar rounds, 2,944 rocket-propelled grenades, 3,000 rifle rounds, 2,232 land mines and tens of thousands of small-arms ammunition rounds.
In addition to taking advantage of the warmer weather, Mountain Storm is also timed to coincide with preparations for national elections scheduled for June. The Afghan government plans to open about 4,000 voter registration sites by May, and security is a major concern for voters, especially in the volatile south and east.
In the past six months, revived Taliban and other Islamic forces have staged numerous deadly attacks in those areas of the country, killing foreign and Afghan aid workers, ambushing civilian projects and convoys, planting bombs in markets and kidnapping highway workers.
U.S. Launches New Operation in Afghanistan
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 14, 2004; Page A22
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 13 -- U.S. military officials announced Saturday that they had begun a major new operation in southern and eastern Afghanistan aimed at "destroying terrorist organizations and infrastructure."
The officials stopped short of identifying the operation, called Mountain Storm, as the long-anticipated spring offensive against Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the region.
Instead, they described it as a continuation of anti-terrorist operations that have been underway in the region for months.
"It is the next in a continuing series of operations . . . a continuing effort to keep pressure on terrorist organizations and their infrastructure," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, chief spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
Asked if Mountain Storm would focus on hunting down the al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, and his aides, Hilferty said the operation was "certainly about more than one person." But he added, "We believe this will help bring the heads of terrorist organizations to justice by continuing to place pressure on them."
Hilferty did not release any details of the new operation, other than to say it had begun March 7 and would include patrols, raids, ground searches for weapons and some air attacks. He did not say how many U.S. troops would be involved.
There are now about 13,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, several thousand of whom have arrived in recent weeks. There have been several reports of additional troops and weapons being sent to Afghanistan in preparation for a major military campaign.
There are also reports that a highly specialized commando team, previously based in Iraq and involved in the successful hunt for former dictator Saddam Hussein, has been transferred here. Those reports have boosted speculation about an intensified hunt for bin Laden, who once lived in Afghanistan and supported the former Islamic Taliban movement.
The launching of Mountain Storm in the rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan coincides with stepped-up efforts by Pakistani troops to conduct anti-terrorist sweeps in that country's semi-autonomous tribal borderlands, where Islamic extremists, possibly including bin Laden, are widely believed to be hiding.
Senior U.S. military officials here have previously described the parallel Pakistani and U.S. military operations as having a "hammer and anvil" effect on Islamic extremist groups operating or hiding in the porous border wilderness and tribal areas.
Hilferty described in detail the methods and results of an earlier, two-month U.S. military operation in the border area, called Mountain Blizzard, and suggested the new operation might be conducted in a similar manner.
He said that operation involved 1,731 patrols and 143 raids, in which 22 enemy fighters were killed and weapons caches were discovered containing 3,648 rockets, 3,202 mortar rounds, 2,944 rocket-propelled grenades, 3,000 rifle rounds, 2,232 land mines and tens of thousands of small-arms ammunition rounds.
In addition to taking advantage of the warmer weather, Mountain Storm is also timed to coincide with preparations for national elections scheduled for June. The Afghan government plans to open about 4,000 voter registration sites by May, and security is a major concern for voters, especially in the volatile south and east.
In the past six months, revived Taliban and other Islamic forces have staged numerous deadly attacks in those areas of the country, killing foreign and Afghan aid workers, ambushing civilian projects and convoys, planting bombs in markets and kidnapping highway workers.
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