Terrorists may be trapped

GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- U.S. and coalition forces inched up the snow-covered mountains of eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, trying to reach hideouts believed to contain hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Some forces entered at least one cave complex, uncovering weapons caches. \nAllied jets flew high over Paktia province, dropping bombs as well as decoy flares to ward off heat-seeking missiles -- defensive measures after two U.S. helicopters were hit Monday in incidents that left seven U.S. soldiers dead. \nFront-line commander Abdul Matin Hasankhiel said hundreds of Afghan and coalition forces have ringed the mountain range and trapped the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters higher up. \n"They can't escape. They're surrounded. Slowly, slowly we are pushing in," he said. \nHundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are believed to be holed up in the area, Brig. Gen. John Rosa told reporters at the Pentagon. Bombers and tactical aircraft have dropped more than 450 bombs on the area since the assault began Friday night, he said. \n"We've been able to get into at least one of the cave complexes thus far, and we've discovered mortars, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, small arms," he said. "And in a different location we found more weapons and ammunition, as well as foreign driver's license and foreign passports." He did not say whether there was resistance entering the cave complex. \nOne fighter, Nawab, who returned from a front-line position Tuesday, said about 50 U.S. special forces were fighting alongside Afghan soldiers at his position about 2 1/2 miles from Shah-e-Kot, the village that is the focus of the largest U.S.-led coalition air and ground operation in Afghanistan to date. \nMinesweepers were leading the way, clearing the paths along the snowy mountains. Attack jets circled overhead and pounded al Qaeda positions while Chinook helicopters ferried in supplies. A powerful fleet of aircraft -- including A-10s, F-15s, B-1s, B-52s, AC-130 gunships, and French Mirage 2000 and Super-Etendard aircraft -- was participating in the assault. \nThe blitz is concentrating on a 60-square-mile area south of the provincial capital, Gardez. \nNawab said fighting was less intense than in previous days. The militants were equipped with heavy artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, mortars, cannons and machine guns. \n"Inshallah (God willing) in three or four days they will be finished," he said. \nU.S. officials said Tuesday the United States had observed al Qaeda forces reoccupying several former training camps in the region that were bombed earlier in the war. \n"We don't know how long it's going to take, but we'll be there until the al Qaeda and Taliban forces are totally uprooted," said Gunnery Sgt. Charles Portman, a spokesman at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. \nEight American soldiers have been killed in the offensive, including one who died Saturday in a ground battle. The remains of the seven killed in the helicopter operations arrived Tuesday at a base in Ramstein, Germany, heading for the United States. Several allied Afghan fighters have also been killed. \n"We should make sure these very brave people who lost their lives did not do so in vain," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday, calling for the world to redouble its efforts to stamp out terrorism. \nNeither the former Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar nor al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was believed to be in the Shah-e-Kot area, but Afghans say hundreds of their supporters and their families are there. \nU.S. officials said Tuesday the enemy troops included foreigners who fought with the Taliban, al Qaeda members, and members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. \nAs of Monday, about 100 or 200 enemy fighters had been killed and a small number detained, said Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the war in Afghanistan. \n Afghan and American defense officials said the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters were likely armed with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles such as Russian SA-7s and possibly American Stingers -- as well as mortars, grenades and cannons. \n Tuesday, about 60 Afghan fighters outfitted in U.S.-issued parkas, their heads wrapped in turbans, headed to the front lines from Jaji, northeast of Gardez. \n Bright orange strips were affixed to the top of the transport trucks to identify them to the allied bombers and helicopters roaring overhead. \n The American deaths Monday occurred during two operations involving MH-47 Chinook helicopters, Rosa said. In the first, a helicopter inserting special forces was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, forcing it down. As it tried to lift off, one American fell out, Rosa said. Another helicopter retrieved the rest of the crew.