A senior U.S. intelligence officer told journalists in southern Afghanistan that advancing Pashtun tribal armies had further weakened the Taliban's hold on Kandahar.
Blaming Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar for "bringing war and destruction" to their country, several large Pashtun tribes are backing U.S. forces in the south. Also Pashtuns, Taliban leaders drew most of their support from the Pashtun heartlands in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
As tribal armies march on Kandahar in the south, in the east they have formed a forward bloc of former Taliban officials now wanting to rid Afghanistan of the extremist militia.
Pashtun tribal armies in the south have received tremendous support from U.S. warplanes that have continued to bomb Taliban positions in and around Kandahar since Oct. 7. The bombing has intensified since last week when Washington sent an estimated 1,000 Marines to the region to capture Omar and drive Taliban out of Kandahar.
The United States has also sent 60 commandos to the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad to search for suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. A prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Tora Bora caves in eastern Afghanistan.
But Marines have blocked escape routes in the south as well to prevent bin Laden, members of his al-Qaeda network and his Taliban patrons from fleeing the country. Under U.S. instructions, Pakistan has sealed all crossing points along its 1,200-mile border with Afghanistan.
As the war intensified, Marines spread out in the desert around Kandahar Monday after heavy U.S. overnight bombings on Taliban positions in the area. Their mobility has been strengthened by dozens of light armored vehicles and humvees brought in over the weekend from U.S. ships in the nearby Arabian Sea.
A wave of U.S. Air Force C17s and Marine Corp KC130s cargo planes flew in during the night, disgorging light armored vehicles and all-terrain vehicles armed with anti-tank weapons.
"They have significantly augmented the robust fire power that we currently have here," said Capt. David Romley, spokesman for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
"They're in use as protection of the forward operating base," said Marine spokesman Capt. Stuart Upton, referring to an airstrip seized by the Marines eight days ago.
The Marines have seen little combat since they seized the airstrip to exert pressure on Kandahar, but have steadily built up their forces.
Romley said Marine Harriers had dropped 500-pound bombs on targets in the south overnight. "They did hit their intended targets," he said without elaborating.
He refused to disclose how many troops, vehicles or aircraft they have at the base. But an array of vehicles and weapons were seen filling up a makeshift parking lot outside the camp.
The light armored vehicles flown in overnight are used for reconnaissance and carry 25mm weapons to destroy similar vehicles.
The Marines send them out in groups, taking scouts along to check out obstacles, such as hills.
Known as the "hunter-killer" teams, the all-terrain humvee vehicles are loaded with TOW anti-tank missiles, MK-19 automatic grenade launchers or 50-calibre heavy machine guns.
On Sunday, the Marines also doubled their air assets with a detachment of combat helicopters from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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