WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. special forces have been in Afghanistan for two weeks searching for Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the airborne assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, USA Today reported Friday.
Citing unidentified senior U.S. and Pakistani officials, the newspaper said U.S. commandos arrived in Pakistan on Sept. 13 -- two days after the attacks -- and began moving into Afghanistan with orders to capture or kill the Saudi-born Islamic militant, or pin him down until the United States can launch air strikes.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke refused to comment on the front-page story. The Pentagon was not making any comment on operations, she said.
Officials have said the U.S. "war on terrorism," declared after the terror attacks on New York and Washington in which nearly 6,500 people are dead or missing, would be an unconventional battle in which commandos could play a key role.
The newspaper, citing Pentagon officials in Washington and Pakistani military officials with direct knowledge of the operations, said U.S. special operations forces had landed in the Pakistani cities of Peshawar and Quetta.
Teams of three to five soldiers, supported by Black Hawk MH-60K helicopters based outside Afghanistan, began deploying into the country to locate bin Laden, concentrating their searches in caves and underground bunkers in southwest Afghanistan near Kandahar, the newspaper said, citing senior U.S. and Pakistani officials.
USA Today said the elite troops were having trouble finding bin Laden and had asked other nations for intelligence help.
Quoting U.S. officials, it said several elite military units were involved in the effort to find bin Laden, including the Army's Green Berets, Navy SEALS and the British Army's Special Air Services.
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A вот тожe, кто-то тут ужe "Шо ты имeлa? Шо ты имeлa в виду?"
Army commandos are gearing up to launch raids from somewhere along Afghanistan's northern border. Air Force fighter jets are poised to strike from unspecified airbases in Central Asia. Navy aircraft carriers are steaming to unknown waters in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. America's first stealth war is about to begin. Whether it will start within days or weeks, the Pentagon won't say. In fact, the military will reveal almost nothing about its campaign against terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his Afghan protectors, the Taliban. And when fighting erupts, much of it might be out of public view. No front lines. No mass assaults.
