*EPF302 01/02/2002
Defense Department Report, January 2: Afghanistan Operations
(U.S. forces "on the hunt" for Taliban, al-Qaida leaders) (420)

U.S. special operations forces are "on the hunt" for al-Qaida and Taliban leaders, a Defense Department spokesman says.

Navy Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem said at a Pentagon briefing January 2 "special operating forces are involved in the search for al-Qaida and Taliban leadership ... with anti-Taliban forces...."

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, also participating in the briefing, added that finding Taliban and al-Qaida leadership remains a primary U.S. objective, and that all resources, including U.S. special operations forces, will be used to achieve it.

Stufflebeem also noted that the recently concluded operation involving U.S. Marines did not have the search for Taliban commander Mullah Omar as a specific objective. "They were out doing survey evaluations, ... collecting physical evidence." As to why so many Marines were used, Stufflebeem noted that unlike special operations forces, the Marines operate as self-contained units and bring their own perimeter security forces, as well as sufficient forces to secure the facility within the perimeter.

No U.S. forces in Pakistan are engaged in a hunt for al-Qaida forces there, Stufflebeem asserted. Instead, U.S. forces in countries bordering Afghanistan are supporting their fellows within Afghanistan, he said.

Responding to a report that rival anti-Taliban forces are attempting to use U.S. and coalition air power to gain competitive advantage over each other, Stufflebeem said "our special operating forces on the ground and other government agencies work very hard to prevent that from happening. So I don't believe that that is, in fact, true."

Asked to give further details on the two most recent air strikes, Stufflebeem said one on December 26 was targeted on the Taliban intelligence ministry. Another, on December 28, targeted a Taliban compound north of the intelligence ministry site, he said. Stufflebeem could not confirm that the strike on the 26th killed the chief of Taliban intelligence, he said, because "[w]e just don't have the evidence that's proof positive."

On the recent crash of a Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft, Stufflebeem said the plane crashed because of a malfunction, and not because it was shot down. He said it crashed on land outside Afghanistan, but declined to name the country due to host-nation sensitivity.

On the humanitarian assistance front, Clarke reported that 114,000 tons of food were delivered into Afghanistan in the month of December. She added that a three-month program to vaccinate as many as nine million Afghan children began January 2 in Kabul.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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