*EPF303 12/12/2001
Defense Department Report, December 12: Afghanistan Operations
(B-1 bomber down in waters off Diego Garcia) (460)

A U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber has gone down in waters 30 miles north of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, according to a Defense Department official.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, briefing journalists at the Pentagon at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) December 12, said no information was yet available concerning the whereabouts or condition of the bomber's four-man crew.

Clarke said that the B-1 had gone down while en route to Diego Garcia, that a KC-10 aircraft [a military version of the DC-10 used for aerial refueling] was circling above the crash site, and that a destroyer -- the USS Russell -- was en route. She emphasized that the information about the crash had been received only a few minutes before the start of the briefing, and consequently she did not know how far away the ship was. [CNN later reported that the crew had been recovered.]

Clarke had no update as to when a videotape of Osama bin Laden might be made available to the media, but said she expected that the Defense Department would be the agency to release it. She noted that the tape quality, especially its sound, was not good.

Military operations December 11 were concentrated in the Tora Bora area, according to General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who gave the operational portion of the briefing. Pace said reports from opposition groups advancing through the area stated that they were fighting al-Qaida, and not Taliban forces.

"Al-Qaida have been very aggressive and determined fighters, so this is going to be a more difficult situation," Pace said. He also noted that Afghan opposition forces continue to encounter resistance as they move through the Tora Bora valley area, which contains hundreds of caves and is several miles long. So far no U.S. forces have engaged in combat there, but that could change in light of the fluid situation, Pace said.

As for the possibility that some al-Qaida fighters may be escaping from the Tora Bora area, Pace said, "We do not know who is escaping and who is not. ... [I]t's a very mountainous area ... so it's very conceivable that groups of two, three, 15 [or] 20 could ... get out."

Pace said reports of negotiations for possible surrender between Afghan opposition and enemy forces can be expected.

"We also expect that ... there would be either capture or killing of the al-Qaida forces," he stated.

(The Washington File is a product of the U.S. Department of State, Office of International Information Programs. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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

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