|

Operation Enduring Freedom - March 2002
- Day 176: Sun, 3/31/02 - The
Afghan government claims to have evidence that Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is aiding and sheltering the
escaping Taliban/al Qaeda fighters. The captured man believed to
be al
Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah will be sent to Guantanamo Bay. US
troops in the Persian Gulf region and Central Asia have increased
from fewer than 25,000 to almost 80,000 since 9/11/01. 7,000 are
in Afghanistan and from 5,500 to 10,500 are now in Kuwait (the
southernmost border of Iraq). A formerly secret base in the
desert in Qatar is being equipped as a US command center. Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon
declared that his country is at war with terrorism, i.e. against
Palestinians, and dubbed Yassar Arafat "the enemy of Israel and the enemy of the free world."
- Day
175: Sat, 3/30/02 - A man bearing a strong resemblance to Abu Zubaydah,
believed to be the new head of the al Qaeda network, was among those
arrested Thursday in Pakistan.
- Day
174: Fri, 3/29/02 - US-led coalition makes fresh assault in the
Paktika province, 12-miles south of the Shah-e-Kot valley, killing 50
al Qaeda fighters. Taliban/al
Qaeda forces are expected to launch a full-scale guerrilla war in
April. Shots
were fired near German international peacekeepers in
Kabul. Rock-eating
Afghan wants to marry a US female pilot. Israel seized
control of Yasser Arafat's compound. Homefront: Upon
arriving in Miami on a flight from Spain, Egyptian
Aly Sabra Galal Abdell was arrested when officials found he had an
immigration violation as well as was carrying box cutters.
- Day
173: Thur, 3/28/02 - Pakistani police and US forces arrested 35
Islamic militants near the Indian border in Pakistan's eastern Punjab
province. Homefront: Delta
passenger Richard Lambertsen was pulled from a flight following
boarding at Boston's Logan International Airport after making a threat
that "people could be killed".
- Day
172: Wed, 3/27/02 - US Navy Seal killed when a land mine or
other ordnance on the ground exploded southeast of Kandahar. US
State Dept. and Embassy in Rome warn US citizens of possible
Easter attacks directed at them in four Italian cities. London-based
al-Quds al-Arabi Arabic
newspaper claims to have received a credible e-mail from bin Laden,
entitled "Statement from Sheikh Osama bin Laden on the initiative of Prince Abdullah".
It claims the Saudi plan is "a Zionist-American one in Saudi
clothes" and that "the battle of New York came... proclaiming the beginning of the end, God willing".
Opening
day of 22-state members' Arab League summit in Beirut:
Palestinians walk out when Arafat is not allowed to speak live; 12 No
Shows, including Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt,
and King Abdullah II of Jordan; Prince Nawaf, the Saudi intelligence chief
and #2 Saudi delegate had a stroke. Purpose of the summit is to
unite the Arab world - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah proposed a comprehensive
"land-for-peace pact with Israel". Homefront: The USS
Theodore Roosevelt arrived home in Norfolk, Va.
- Day
171: Tue, 3/26/02 - The US and France advised the United Nations
Security Council that the international peacekeeping force would
remain limited to Kabul. US
forces are searching for Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri, three other
top Taliban clerics and 26 al Qaeda officials who were seen a week ago
near the site of Operation Anaconda. Another
earthquake in Afghanistan/Pakistan struck, killing over 1800.
- Day 170: Mon, 3/25/02 - Pentagon
officials revealed that US troops found a laboratory near Kandahar
that may have been used in Anthrax production. The
4500+ International peacekeepers, representing 18 nations,
stationed in Kabul are being threatened with car bombings and
kidnapping by Taliban/al Qaeda forces. Turkey
is not ready to assume command of the International peacekeeping
force in Afghanistan. The only Muslim nation member of NATO,
they want assurance that the US will evacuate their troops if unrest
breaks out in Kabul. US
has moved A-10 Thunderbolt ("warthogs") attack jets to
Bagram air base, north of Kabul, to allow for quicker
response. They previously were stationed outside
Afghanistan. It's armed with a 30 millimeter Gatling gun which
can fire 3,900 rounds per minute and also carries AGM-65 Maverick and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.
It can fly slow and low and can survive armor-piercing and
high-explosive projectiles. The
first of Great Britain's Royal Marines arrived in Bagram,
also. Pakistan is refusing to allow any British troops to land
on its soil. US
government assisted with a ransom payment last week to the
terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines for the release of the
Bumhams, kidnapped last May. The husband and wife have still not
been released. Homefront: Airport
security screeners are not catching most knives, simulated
explosives and one out of three guns carried by undercover agents in
tests carried out since November '01 by the Transportation
Department. Security
at nuclear reactors in the US is "dangerously inadequate"
also according to the Transportation Department, and just as
terrorists attended flight schools, there may be terrorists presently
employed at nuclear reactor sites across the country.
- Day
169: Sun, 3/24/02 - More assaults on American troops in
Afghanistan are planned by Taliban/al Qaeda, according to intelligence
sources. Afghanistan
canceled all Taliban-era issued passports and those issued at
other times must be updated with a new state stamp.
- Day
168: Sat, 3/23/02 - Taliban clerics hiding in Pakistan live
comfortably while preparing for next move. According to Hajji Mullah Sahib,
"Our neighbors are also terrified of the United States, and they want to make trouble
for America. Now they are sending us money, guns and men."
They also claim the Shah-e-Kot offensive was a
US failure, because very few Taliban/al Qaeda were killed. US
must decide what action to take on those hiding in Pakistan.
One of the 9/11/01 hijackers, Ahmed Ibrahim A. Al Haznawi, may
have been treated for an Anthrax lesion on his leg three months
prior to the hijackings. Homefront: Federal
officials are looking for four Pakistani nationals that entered
the US illegally after leaving a freighter, the Progresso, that
docked in Virginia a week ago. The crew members Ahmad Salman, Thulan
Qadar, Mohammad Nazir and Adnan Ahmad were given shore-leave visas by
the INS. The Malta-chartered freighter was carrying a chemical
used in fertilizer. FBI
cleans house following the Robert Hanssen spy case.
- Day
167: Fri, 3/22/02 - The urgent request for the 1700+ British
forces was based on the discovery of a biological weapons lab during
Operation Anaconda. A
goodwill basketball game between US and Afghan teams ended in violence
when an Afghan spectator kicked a fallen American player in the head.
- Day
166: Thur, 3/21/02 - Three new ways to war have emerged from the
Afghan fighting: "Precise airstrikes backed by special forces on the
ground, armed unmanned aerial vehicles, and bombers dominating the attack."
US
forces now face new problem of "where is the enemy now",
as rebels have melted back into the Afghan population. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud
claims all Arab states are united against a US-led strike on Iraq,
and called for permanent lifting of sanctions against Iraq.
- Day
165: Wed, 3/20/02 - Coalition forces in Khost were attacked by
machine gun fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. A US
AC-130 gunship counter-attacked the enemy position while a B-1 bomber
illuminated the area with flares. A car-bombing
just four blocks from the US Embassy in Lima, Peru, killed at
least nine people, including two embassy security guards. US
Embassy in Bosnia has been closed after receiving threats of an
attack. Apparently, al
Qaeda militants met recently in Sofia, Bulgaria to plan attacks on
Americans by identifying European targets, including the embassy in
Sarajevo. A surveillance video
found in an Afghan al Qaeda safehouse shows links to
Singapore-based Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and its plans to "bomb the US
Embassy and US commercial and military targets in Singapore".
Operation
Jacana ("a small tropical wading bird with large feet")
will begin in April with 1700+ British Royal Marines hunting for Mullah Mohammad Omar,
former Taliban leader, and is expected to last three months.
Homefront: US
plans to pay Turkey $228 million as it takes command of the
international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
- Day
164: Tue, 3/19/02 - Up to 1,000 Taliban/al Qaeda are hiding with
the help of sympathetic clerics in Pakistan, waiting for when the US
leaves Karzai and the Afghan interim government to itself.
Throughout fighting in the Shah-e-Kot valley, rebel
forces called for reinforcements and supplies by connecting to the
Internet via satellite phones, and also used the Web to communicate to
each other as they ran from cave to cave. The Voice
of America overseas broadcast agency is calling for the Arab media
to stop reporting lies that incite hatred of Jews. The Saudi daily
paper Al-Riyadh claimed "Jews use human blood to make pastries for the Purim
holiday 'by killing a mature adolescent…that is, a Christian or a
Muslim.'" Opium
is allowed to grow undisturbed in Afghanistan. 160
medals have been awarded to US troops so far during this Operation
Enduring Freedom. "Smuggler
Road" is the route used by illegal Afghans seeking sanctuary
in Pakistan. US
government warns Americans overseas to "Avoid places where fellow
Americans congregate, even churches and schools. Drive to work a different way each day,
with the windows up. Be cautious. Remain vigilant."
Homefront: A
government banned "persistent" cookie, which would track
users until 2010, was being used by the CIA's Electronic Reading Room
webpage. Since its discovery, it has supposedly been removed.
- Day
163: Mon, 3/18/02 - All US and Canadian forces have withdrawn from
Shah-e-Kot valley, ending Operations Anaconda and Harpoon. General Tommy Franks, chief of
US military Central Command called it an absolute success.
Afghan commanders say differently: "Americans don't listen to
anyone. They do what they want. Most people escaped. You can't call that a success."
The first of those listed on Bush's 22 most dangerous men list, Abu Anas
Al-Liby, was captured in Khartoum, Sudan. Homefront: Round-the-clock
air patrols over New York will be replaced by intermittent patrols
and keeping fighter jets on fly-within-15-minute strip alerts.
The 24-hr combat patrols will continue over Washington DC. For
security reasons, NASA
is now keeping shuttle launch times secret, as well as when
astronauts arrive for preparations.
- Day
162: Sun, 3/17/02 - Five people, including two Americans, were
killed in a grenade attack on their protestant church, located 1/2
mile from the US Embassy in Pakistan. The two Americans were a
woman who worked in administration at the Embassy and her teenage
daughter. President
Bush is outraged by the attack and pledges to find those
responsible. US forces in eastern Afghanistan attacked a
three-vehicle convoy ferrying al Qaeda fighters out of the area.
The Defense
Ministry of Afghanistan accused Pakistan of harboring Taliban leaders
and al Qaeda fighters, saying 95% of the movement went to Pakistan
when the Taliban fell. "Pakistan is the one who gave birth to the (Taliban) movement and when they were
defeated, they went back to their masters," said ministry spokesman Saranwal Mir Jan.
US
is planning new attacks on al Qaeda pockets in Afghanistan. Fleeing
Taliban/al Qaeda left an extensive paper trail. Lists showed
members were from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Somalia,
Bosnia, Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Russia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
- Day
161: Sat, 3/16/02 - Cave-by-cave searches revealed more weapons
and "spider holes", holes in the rocks large enough for a
man to exit through, that led to an underground chamber containing
ammunition, medical supplies, and even IVs hanging from the
ceiling. Al
Qaeda network's financial activity has picked up again over the
past few weeks and there's an enormous increase in their internet
traffic. Top prospects for possible al Qaeda regrouping are Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Indonesia.
US government is tracking a newly formed muslim extremist group in
northern Iraq called Ansar al-Islam.
- Day
160: Fri, 3/15/02 - US warned fleeing al Qaeda/Taliban that they
would be hit hard if they returned, "Beware the Ides of
March". Australian
SAS troops, responsible for cutting off the southern escape route
of al Qaeda militants from the Shah-e-Kot valley, raided the
rebel-sympathetic village Oryakhail. There, they "blew up a mobile anti-aircraft gun stored in the local commander's
mudbrick fort". FBI chief Robert Mueller said al
Qaeda needs a new base and may turn to Southeast Asia or the
Middle East, and that much intelligence gathering is needed.
Germany signed an agreement with Afghan interim leader Karzai to
rebuild its police force.
- Day
159: Thur, 3/14/02 - Combing caves and bunkers for more
intelligence information and stray rebels in the Shah-e-Kot Valley, US
and Canadian troops killed three more enemy fighters during a
90-minute gun battle. Some civilians have also been killed
during Operation Anaconda because al Qaeda set up mortar positions
between homes. DNA tests will be done on some of the dead
militants to see if any senior leaders were among them. Some
of those killed include foreigners from Sudan, Egypt, and
Indonesia, as well as Chechens, Uzbeks, and Chinese. The tally
of the dead now stands at between 25 and 500. Found in the area
so far are "bomb-making devices, extensive weapons caches, manuals on how to attack
individuals in cars and blow up bridges". US helicopters
are patrolling for fleeing al Qaeda. Pakistan's President Musharraf
says the war in Afghanistan is over. Homefront: US
aid officials want $1 billion for battle against hunger, disease,
and illiteracy in Afghanistan; Congress wants more anti-drug efforts
to take effect there before the first poppy crop is harvested next
month.
- Day
158: Wed, 3/13/02 - US-led forces claim control of the Shah-e-Kot
valley, in the 60 sq mi battle area near Gardez where Operation
Anaconda has been under way. So far, the coalition has taken
only 20 prisoners. Marine
Cobras and other helicopter gunships continued blasting cave entrances
to prevent al Qaeda militants from escaping, although many fighters,
along with their commander, Saif Rahman Mansour got away earlier in
the day. The Pentagon has maintained "surrender or
die", but the allied Afghan commanders were prepared to let the
rebels walk away. US choppers brought in 100 US and 500 Canadian
troops to search for al Qaeda fugitives on the snow-covered
"whaleback" ridge mountain, beginning an additional
offensive called Operation
Harpoon which is expected to last 48 hours. US officials estimate 800
al Qaeda fighters have been killed during this 13-day operation,
including Chechens, Uzbeks, Pakistanis and Arabs. Anaconda is
expected to continue on a smaller scale for about a month. Two
other al Qaeda pockets are also being investigated, one northwest of
Kandahar and one in southern Afghanistan. The US
Army base at Kandahar may be holding an Iranian general at its
detention center.
- Day
157: Tue, 3/12/02 - Al Qaeda will not be allowed to walk away and
fighting will not stop for the rebels to surrender. The
coalition front line broke
through seven enemy trenches with tanks and armored personnel
carriers, killing at least "three rebels in every trench". Homefront: The US Department of
Homeland Security unveiled
a new five-level Security Advisory System. The program
"was designed to motivate local governments to develop plans that will guide the
actions of residents."
- Day
156: Mon, 3/11/02 - US-led coalition begins "mopping up"
attacks on al Qaeda rebels hiding in caves in the Paktia province and
resumed bombing at nightfall. Apparently, al
Qaeda/Taliban had been tipped off earlier in the week of the
impending coalition mission, some of the Afghan troops have not
performed well, and local residents have been assisting the
rebels. More
US troops left the front lines today, and Afghan warriors began
filling in, armed with weapons including knives and rocket-propelled
grenades. Now is their time to shine, as they
prepare to fight Afghan style - crawling up silently on the enemy
and attacking them in their caves. They also look forward to
seeing what bounty they can recover. British
Prime Minister Tony Blair offers US its support against Iraq,
based on Iraq's breach of "at least nine UN Security Council resolutions
about weapons of mass destruction". According to US Vice
President Dick Cheney "[We] have to be concerned about the potential marriage, if you will, between
a terrorist organization like Al Qaeda and those who hold or are proliferating
knowledge about weapons of mass destruction." The
US flag flew at half-staff at the US Embassy in Kabul, marking six
months since the 9/11 attacks. Homefront: US
Immigration & Naturalization Service notified Huffman Aviation
of Venice, FL that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi were approved for
student visas, which would change their tourist visa status.
Hmm, those names sound familiar. Oh yes, they flew planes into
the NY World Trade Center six months ago!
- Day 155: Sun, 3/10/02 - Very light fighting in
Gardez region. About 400 US troops withdrew from the region and
returned to Bagram air base, north of Kabul.
- Day
154: Sat, 3/9/02 - US and allies scour the eastern Afghan
mountains for a "high-value target" amidst extreme driving
wind and snow. New tensions begin among Afghan fighters, largely
Pashtun, and the Tajik reinforcements sent by the Karzai
administration.
- Day 153: Fri, 3/8/02 -
Battle intensity of Operation Anaconda has slacked a bit in spite of
continued bombing and al Qaeda gunfire. Heavy snow blankets the
mountain passes and rumbles from exploding bombs can be heard 20 miles
to the north. Winter
conditions are limiting air strikes to satellite-guided
bombs. 1,000
heavily armed Afghan soldiers joined the battle in the Gardez area
of the Paktia province. An on-site reporter gives his "trench-level
view" of the first days of Operation Anaconda.
- Day
152: Thur, 3/7/02 - Ground fighting continues in Gardez and US
pounded the area using B-52 bombers, F-16 fighter jets, and attack
helicopters. Over 400
al Qaeda/Taliban fighters have been killed since Saturday. Al
Qaeda fighters use strategy - throw stones, taunt and shout at the
US soldiers, then just before US missiles strike, they run to their
caves and launch mortars at the US troops below. US counter
strategy - launch 60mm mortars after the rebels duck into their caves,
the sound disguised by the US fighter jets; as rebels emerge from
cover, the mortars detonate overhead, spraying them with
shrapnel. Fuel,
food, ammunition, and equipment is being sent to allied troops by
helicopter. Five
international peacekeepers (2 Germans, 3 Danes) were killed in Kabul
while trying to defuse two SA-3 Soviet-era ground-to-air
missiles. Each missile weighed 2,100 lbs. An
explosion at a Kandahar munitions depot may have been caused by
accidentally tripping a booby trap, killing three US-allied Afghan
fighters. Afghan's Ariana
Airline restarted operations with India with a flight from Kabul
to New Delhi. Turkmenistan
and Afghanistan leaders discuss plans for a natural gas pipeline
and for electricity.
- Day
151: Wed, 3/6/02 - Al Qaeda operatives are communicating in
Pakistan via e-mail and new websites and continue to plot attacks on
Western interests. US-led infantry units have found AK-47 ammunition, medicine, night-vision devices, and documents, including a
Saudi identification card in cleared out enemy caves and
compounds. Ground attacks killed over 100 al Qaeda militants
today.
- Day
150: Tue, 3/5/02 - Five Marine AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters,
which were on the USS Bonhomme Richard in the North Arabian Sea,
joined the fighting in eastern Afghanistan to replace damaged Army
AH-64 Apache attack choppers. Two CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopters
accompanied the Cobras. The Cobra, crewed by two, carries a 20mm
cannon which fires precision guided missiles, including Hellfire,
Sidewinder anti-air missiles, and TOW anti-armor missiles. Fierce
fighting continues with some troops advancing as close as 330 feet
to rebel caves and bunkers. Pakistani border forces fought with gunmen carrying guided missiles and rockets out of
eastern Afghanistan, close to Gardez area. US President Bush
said bin Laden has not been heard from since December 11 and is either
dead or running. International
peacekeeping forces may be doubled - presently, there are 4,500
troops limited to the Kabul area. Flood
waters resulting from Sunday's earthquake damage are submerging a
north Afghan village.
- Day 149: Mon, 3/4/02 - US
military base near Khost, 45 miles southeast of Gardez, was attacked
by rockets, and gunmen bearing Kalashnikov rifles opened fire on the
airport for five minutes. Troops rushed to the area, but the
gunmen had escaped, so a US plane bombed the firing site.
Bombing raids continued with US B-52s and F-16s. There are now
1,000+ US and western troops deployed in the Gardez area. Nine
members of Congress, upon return from Afghanistan, said these
people are fighting to the death. They don't feel this
battle is a last stand, but will be repeated in other parts of the
country.
- Day
148: Sun, 3/3/02 - US B-52s rained bombs on eastern Afghanistan
and the ground assault was delayed due to fierce opposition.
There are about 60 US advisors in this Operation Anaconda battle and
about 1,000 Afghan troops. Afghan forces say the opposition
consists of 3,000 to 5,000 fighters, but the Pentagon estimates only
hundreds. Other troops involved in this battle are from Australia, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany and Norway. 7 more US troops were
killed when two
CH-47 Chinook helicopters took enemy fire north of Gardez in
eastern Afghanistan. Six
from the first crash died in ground fighting as they waited 12
hours for a rescue team. One
died after he fell out of the second chopper while it was trying
to take off again following a hard landing. He
held off the enemy for 30 minutes until his machine gun jammed,
then he was stormed and killed at close range. The battle took
place trying to land atop 10,200 ft Takur Ghar, which offered a "prime view
of a valley where scores of al-Qaida fighters were battling U.S. and coalition troops."
See a Takur
Ghar timeline. US
planes dropped thousands of pamphlets over eastern
Afghanistan. Written in Pashtu and Dari, the messages on the
leaflets told people to hand over al Qaeda/Taliban and provide
information about them, or risk being destroyed. Of the 7,500+
al Qaeda captives in Afghanistan and 300 at Camp X-ray, most
go by aliases and have no identifying papers. The US
Department of Justice is reviewing the idea of obtaining blood samples
from them for creating a DNA databank, to be used for future
identification. 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit northern
Afghanistan. Switzerland
votes to join the United Nations. Homefront: The
US Department of Energy is developing more advanced devices for
detecting nuclear radiation. Hundreds of sensors have been
deployed for use at US borders, Washington DC sites, overseas and were
used at the Super Bowl in New Orleans and the Olympics in Salt Lake
City.
- Day
147: Sat, 3/2/02 - A US fighter pilot was killed when his
F-14 Tomcat crashed just after takeoff from the USS John F. Kennedy in
the Mediterranean Sea, 50 miles south of Crete. In Afghanistan, US
warplanes dropped two 2,000 lb thermobaric bombs into mountain
caves just south of Gardez, with bombing continuing into the
night. 1 US soldier was killed during the assault. The
US pays each Afghan fighter $200 per month to help hunt down al
Qaeda/Taliban warriors. Homefront: Back in October, an
intelligence alert warned that terrorists had obtained a 10 kiloton
nuclear weapon from Russia, destined for New York City - the public
was not advised. According to a US counterterrorism official, sooner
or later America's luck will run out and "It's going to be worse, and a lot
of people are going to die" next time.
- Day
146: Fri, 3/1/02 - Operation Anaconda launched today in
Afghanistan. This operation was developed in response to
intelligence reports that al Qaeda/Taliban was planning an attack on
the Afghan interim government. The
Pentagon said al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are regrouping in
eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Gardez, and just over the border
in Pakistan. Jalaluddin
Haqqani, former Taliban minister of frontier affairs, is believed to be a key organizer
of the regrouping. US
troops survived "18 hour ring of fire", sustaining
shrapnel injuries, as they held blocking positions in the opening
round of Operation Anaconda. A
medic recounts the first 18 hours, pulling out shrapnel and
bandaging bloodied soldiers. "Operation Anaconda" is
named after "the snake that encircles and crushes its
prey". War on Terror may
expand to Yemen as
military advisors will be sent there within 10 days to support local
troops against terrorists taking refuge there. Special forces
troops will do the same thing there that they are doing in the
Philippines. There is also a mission to Georgia underway, but US
troops will not join those troops in battle. Almost
two-thirds of the 300 detainees at Camp X-Ray have been party to
an on-and-off hunger strike since Wednesday when a guard removed a
turban, made from a bedsheet, from the head of a detainee.
Although they had already been given close-fitting white knit caps to
wear if they chose, the
policy was changed yesterday, allowing detainees to wear turbans
made from towels or bedsheets. Homefront: A
backup government of rotating federal officials on standby in
bunkers since 9/11/01 is still being practiced.
|
|