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Date Posted: 08:02:41 01/03/02 Thu
Author: Susan Sevareid
Subject: Military Commando colonel views caves as dead end

Military
Commando colonel views caves as dead end
By Susan Sevareid
Associated Press

Web Posted : 01/03/2002 12:00 AM

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Osama bin Laden isn't likely to be found in caves being searched by U.S. special forces in the Tora Bora area of eastern Afghanistan, the commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force said Wednesday.

"I don't think he's up there," Col. John Mulholland told American journalists at a special forces forward operating base outside Afghanistan. "... I do think he's either dead, buried under some tonnage of rock or he's out of there."

But commanders at the base said U.S. special forces teams continue searching caves in the Tora Bora area looking for anything that might help dismantle bin Laden's al-Qaida network and catch the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.

They weren't specific about what had been found.

The country where the forward operating base is located couldn't be identified under ground rules for reporters visiting a place that until recent days has been off-limits.

In a war in which the United States has relied little on conventional ground troops, small groups of special forces work with local Afghan fighters to overthrow the Taliban leadership and hunt down al-Qaida militants.

Reporters were taken to a special forces base in southern Afghanistan later Wednesday and heard members of the 5th Special Forces Group describe the activities of their teams in the Kandahar area. Here, the goal is to help secure a city that was the birthplace and the heart of Taliban territory.

A few residents waved at the armed special forces as they rode on pickups to a base in the city. The Americans said most Afghans have been friendly.

Through unilateral and joint patrols with Afghan allies, the special forces in Kandahar are keeping watch for hard-line fighters who may remain, checking residents' tips on hidden weapons or locations used by former fighters and assessing humanitarian needs.

"What I call it is keeping my finger on the pulse of the city," said Col. Dave, commander of the Special Operations Command and Control Center and military adviser to Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha.

Citing security concerns, many soldiers will give only their first name and rank.

Caves searched in the Tora Bora area in recent days by other special forces teams haven't been elaborate, the U.S. commanders said.

Americans saw nothing of the cave network bin Laden was reputed to have there, or of tunnels created to connect caves, Mulholland said.

Often, he added, caves had been looted by the time the U.S. teams went inside.

He didn't rule out that more elaborate complexes exist.

Though the special forces search in the Tora Bora area appears to be winding down, Mulholland said he's not prepared to say the role for special forces in Afghanistan has peaked.

Parts of the country, particularly in the north, are in transition, while the south still requires the United States to play more of a military role, he said.


01/03/2002

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