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Afghanistan
Forces at Shah-i-Kot mopping up
2002-03-13
  • US-backed Afghan forces were flushing out remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban after taking hold of theIR last known stronghold. US Major Bryan Hilferty told a news briefing at Bagram, that the Shah-i-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan was now under the control of coalition forces. "In the past 24 hours the Afghan allied forces have seized the objective area, the ridge line known as 'the whale'... and the whole of the Shahi Kot valley," he said. Asked if coalition forces were in control of all known al-Qaeda and Taliban positions, Hilferty said: "We've seized the majority. We control the majority."

    He estimated the number of remaining fighters still putting up resistance in the Arma mountains where the Shahi Kot valley is located numbered "in the range of 100". Hilferty also confirmed a ground offensive had been launched on Tuesday morning by Afghan commanders General Zia Lodin, leading Afghan troops allied to the US coalition, and Gul Haider, at the head of troops sent last week by Kabul's defence ministry.

    The deputy commander of the Afghan defence ministry forces in the eastern Paktia province, Mohammad Aref, said late on Tuesday that Afghan and US troops had taken control of all known al-Qaeda positions in the Shahi Kot valley after a three-pronged offensive. "We entered at 11:30 am (0700 GMT) into Shahi Kot valley. It was a big ground offensive from three directions," Aref told reporters. He said US and local Afghans attacked from the northeast while Aref's troops launched an offensive from the east and west, encountering no resistance.

    Pentagon officials in Washington said US and Afghan forces had begun flushing out more than 40 caves in the ridge dubbed "the whale" -- so named because from the air it looks like a huge marine mammal lying across the valley floor. The offensive came on the 11th day of Operation Anaconda, the largest US combat operation of the Afghan war. "We continue to reposition forces," Hilferty said. "We have more than 1,500 forces on the ground aggressively searching for the terrorists. Our goal is still to kill and capture al-Qaeda people." He said fewer than 20 militants had been captured and were being held at US military bases in Bagram and the southern city of Kandahar.
    The Pashtuns and Northern Alliance seem to have made up. Zia Lodin's done washing his turban, now that there are only a hundred or so Bad Guys who aren't quite stiff. Wonder if they potted The Heroic Mansour, or if he's one of the prisoners - that'd prove my thesis that the Head Cheeses seldom get shot. Most likely he's in Pakistan at Uncle Ahmed's house, sipping tea and telling every who'll listen how brave all the dead guys he used to command were and how they nearly whupped the Infidels, given the brilliance of his tactics. The jihadis are probably signing up in droves for the next Great Offensive.
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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