U.S. Forces Gain Ground in Afghan Mountain Battle

U.S. troops fighting to eradicate a pocket of Taliban and Al Qaeda resistance in eastern Afghanistan pushed forward aggressively Wednesday, seizing caves and ground from the holdouts, who have seen hundreds of their fighters killed, American and Afghan commanders said.

About half of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters have been killed since the offensive in the mountainous Shahi Kot district started Saturday, Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck said at a news briefing at the Bagram air base north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. Hagenbeck, commander of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, said the holdouts had originally numbered 600 to 700.

“Several hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists are no longer with us,” the general said, as the base teemed with military activity. “We believe that among the dead are some of the higher-ranking leaders.”

This morning, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilferty said at Bagram that U.S. forces had killed about 100 of the Al Qaeda or Taliban extremists Wednesday, while suffering negligible casualties themselves: one sprained ankle and two cases of altitude sickness.

So far in the operation, eight Americans and three pro-U.S. Afghan fighters have been killed and about 70 wounded, Hilferty said.

In addition to attack helicopters and high-altitude bombing, AC-130 gunships were brought into the fray Wednesday, he said.

An Afghan spokesman, Safi Ullah, of the shura, or council, of Gardez, said that heavy U.S. bombing had resumed this morning and that U.S. forces had just captured another hillside containing caves, weapons and documents. He said there were also reports that they had attacked from the air a convoy of Taliban apparently attempting to escape.

In Gardez, 25 miles north of the fighting, U.S.-allied Afghan leaders confirmed that the American-led coalition had gained the upper hand and said that they consider the battle all but won.

“Absolutely, they are defeated,” said Taj Mohamad Wardak, the governor of Paktia province. “It will be finished in a week or so.”

But in Washington, Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who is in charge of the U.S. campaign, described the holdouts as “very hard and capable and dedicated fighters.” Franks said an additional 200 to 300 U.S. troops have joined the 800 Americans already fighting in Paktia province and that he may request more troops and equipment.

The troops would join about 200 commandos from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway also on the ground, in addition to several hundred Afghans. Most of the Afghans are outside the central battle, blocking escape routes, but they also include front-line fighters.

After an initial assault Saturday was rebuffed so aggressively by Al Qaeda fighters that the Afghan troops were forced to retreat, coalition fighters said the momentum swung in their direction following heavy bombing Sunday.

U.S. military personnel expressed surprise at the fierce response of the Al Qaeda fighters.

As F-15 fighter jets approached a suspected Al Qaeda cave at an elevation of 9,000 feet, fighters stopped launching mortars at the Americans just long enough to duck inside, said Army Capt. Kevin Butler, 30, of Pattenburg, N.J. Then, as the jets receded, the fighters reemerged to taunt their adversaries, grinning and flailing their arms over their heads as they threw stones at the Americans.

“I didn’t really expect them to try and duke it out with us,” said Lt. Col. Ron Corkran, commander of a U.S. infantry battalion. “I was just surprised at the intensity of what I saw on the valley floor.”

In the battle zone Wednesday, Abdul Matin Hassankhail, a brigade commander in Gardez who contributed 75 fighters to the offensive, said the U.S.-led forces were climbing up the sides of mountains to face the enemy.

He said the Al Qaeda fighters are mostly foreigners--Pakistanis and Arabs--but that they are believed to be led by a prominent former Taliban official, Saifur Rahman, who is about 40 years old.

At the briefing at Bagram, Hagenbeck provided new details about the deaths of seven Americans in the offensive. After a Navy SEAL who fell or dropped from a helicopter Monday was killed on the ground by Al Qaeda fighters, the six other Americans died in a firefight trying to rescue him, he said.

Bagram, about 25 miles north of Kabul, has become the operations center for the campaign, from which troops and supplies are ferried south by helicopter. There are now “several thousand” U.S. troops at the base, said Capt. William Rivers.

Hagenbeck said the incident with the Chinook helicopter occurred shortly after midnight Monday, or what he called “D-day plus 2.”

Apparently, he said, the helicopter landed on an Al Qaeda position and took heavy fire. It managed to take off and traveled about four miles before touching down 20 minutes later. That’s when the crew realized that one of the men was missing.

The crew of the first helicopter was picked up by a second, but the men insisted on going back for their comrade. When they did, a firefight ensued in which the six servicemen were killed.

“We brought home the body of that young sailor,” Hagenbeck said. “I would tell you, from all indications, the Al Qaeda executed him.”

The incident illustrated the perils of the military’s “leave no man behind” motto. In a briefing Tuesday, Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said the six men had died in a separate mission. Defense Department officials deferred to the general but privately explained Wednesday that the men were killed on a rescue mission.

Hagenbeck offered several examples of heroism in the offensive. One person singled out was a young American who lay for hours in the snow alone, holding off an Al Qaeda opponent trying to seize his mortar position.

By the time he could be reached by other U.S. forces, his body temperature had dropped to 90 degrees, but the soldier pleaded to be let back into the fight, Hagenbeck said.

The expected defeat of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces probably would not provoke much protest or excitement in Paktia province, he said, because the public is tired of fighting. “Most people today,” he said, “are thinking that this problem should end.”

Gov. Wardak, who returned to Afghanistan recently after living for 15 years in the North Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, said that some Taliban sympathizers remain in Paktia province but that the majority of the region’s people are happy at last for the chance to fight against Al Qaeda.

“Al Qaeda was very strong in the time of the Taliban regime, and we could not fight against them ourselves,” he said. “But now that the Americans have weakened Al Qaeda, all of the people are wishing to fight against them.”

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Tempest reported from Bagram and Daniszewski from Gardez. Times staff writer John Hendren in Washington contributed to this report.