*EPF202 03/05/2002
Defense Department Report, March 5: Afghanistan, Philippines
(Battle in Shahi-Kot region has been raging for five days) (520)

PENTAGON SAYS STILL MORE FIGHTING TO BE DONE

Fighting in the rugged, snow-covered mountainous Shahi-Kot region near Gardez in the eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan raged for the fifth straight day between al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and U.S.-led coalition forces, senior Pentagon officials say.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are in hiding and apparently have access to large numbers of small arms and light weapons in an array of cave complexes that dot the mountain range, Air Force Brigadier General John Rosa said March 5 at a Pentagon briefing.

"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, [and] small arms. And in a different location we found more weapons and ammunition, as well as foreign driver's licenses and foreign passports," he said.

Since the operation -- dubbed "Operation Anaconda" for the snake that gradually crushes its victims to death -- began late March 1, Air Force and Navy long-range bombers and tactical aircraft have dropped over 450 bombs in the mountains, as ground forces have been supported by A-10 ground attack combat jets and AC-130 Specter gunships, Rosa said.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke said the coalition forces are softening up the al-Qaida and Taliban forces by pressing the attack very hard and very aggressively, often with simultaneous attacks.

"We have always said that the further this went on, the harder it would get. The people who are left to fight -- the al-Qaida -- are among the toughest, the most violent, the most committed to fighting this out to the end," she said.

The operation is the largest U.S.-led air and ground offensive launched since the war began five months ago, and involves U.S. Special Forces with pro-government Afghan forces, coalition special operations forces, and elements of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division and the 101st Airborne Division. It marks the first time U.S. conventional combat troops have entered combat, the Pentagon said.

A total of eight U.S. soldiers have been killed in the immediate operation and another 40 were wounded, though 18 of those have returned to duty, Rosa said. The eight U.S. military personnel were killed during operations to insert Special Forces teams into the mountains, Rosa said.

Since the war against terrorism began in Afghanistan October 7, at least 30 U.S. military personnel and one Central Intelligence Agency field agent have died, the Pentagon said separately March 5. Ten of those killed died due to hostile fire.

NO U.S. FORCES WILL ENGAGE IN COMBAT IN THE PHILIPPINES

Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee March 5 that U.S. military personnel engaged in training Philippine troops in counterterrorist operations will not have a combat role.

Approximately 600 U.S. military personnel have been sent to the Philippines, including about 160 Special Forces, to help train the Philippine military in counterterrorist and unconventional operations, he said.

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

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