'Inadequate' US troops pulled out of battleground

[Cian O'Connor]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,13-233669,00.html

'Inadequate' US troops pulled out of battleground
>From Catherine Philp in Leg Diwawl, Afghanistan
 
 
HUNDREDS of American troops were pulled out of the
ground battle with al-Qaeda forces because they failed
to adapt to the guerrilla tactics required for
fighting in the mountains, according to their Afghan
allies. 
More than 1,000 Afghan troops rushed to the front line
yesterday to take up the slack after the withdrawal of
400 US troops from the mountains of eastern
Afghanistan. 

The American military has described the withdrawal as
a tactical reappraisal of their battleplan, but Afghan
commanders told a different story of inexperienced
American soldiers unable to advance through the
unfamiliar mountains to track down al-Qaeda and
Taleban foes. 

“They were not trained for the kind of fighting we do
in the mountains and, in these conditions, their kind
of fighting is useless,” Commander Allah Mohammed
said. “They were weakening our morale, it was better
for them to go.” 

As dawn broke, hundreds of Afghan fighters mounted
their creaking Soviet-era tanks and set off towards
the snow-covered ridge of Shahi-Kot, where the
remaining al-Qaeda forces are hiding. Belching black
smoke, the tanks chugged their way to a mud-walled
fort, where troops were assembling around their
leader, the Tajik commander, Gul Haider. 

The last time that these forces met the Taleban was on
the northern Shomali Plain, from where they swept into
Kabul as the Taleban fled south. It is hoped their
familiarity with the Taleban’s tactics will help them
to succeed where American troops failed. 

Shah Mahood Popal, their deputy commander, believed it
was self-preservation that stopped the Americans from
launching a more decisive attack. “They didn’t want to
risk losing lots of fighters. Afghans don’t care if
they lose lots of fighters, so we are better suited
for the task. They should stick to bombing,” he said. 

As he finished, the dark shape of a warplane swept the
blue sky above and a loud boom ricochetted off the
mountains. Three puffs of black smoke rose up from the
snowy ridge. “They are still trying to wipe out the
al-Qaeda from the air,” Habib Afghan, a commander
said, “but if forces don’t go in, it is impossible to
finish them off.” 

The new troops were dispatched from Kabul last week
after it became clear that the Americans had
underestimated the number of militants still left
hiding up in the mountains. Afghan commanders believe
that the US has exaggerated the number of casualties
in the bombing campaign, saying that at least several
hundred al-Qaeda forces are up in mountain caves ready
to fight back. 

“We have been very close to their positions and we
have seen no dead bodies,” Commander Mohammed said. 

Afghan leaders say the many pathways through the
mountains are providing not only escape routes for the
fighters but a means of replenishing their ranks. 

Shahi-Kot has been called the last bastion of al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan, but there is evidence that other
pockets of resistance still exist in provinces to the
south. Commanders say that before Operation Anaconda
began, there had been only a small number of al-Qaeda
in the mountains. 

They were attempting to negotiate a surrender when the
offensive began, bringing al-Qaeda forces from all
over the south running to Shahi Kot to help in the
battle. “We were communicating with them, but the
Americans would not allow us to negotiate,” Commander
Mohammed said. “This paved the way for the other Arabs
to join them.” 

The Arabs are thought to have made their way here from
a number of locations in southern Pakistan and
Afghanistan, in particular, a secret Taleban base in
Zabul Province, north of Kandahar. 

Former Taleban sources predict that the base could be
the scene of the next operation against al-Qaeda.
“This battle will not be the last,” one former
official said. “The network is far from dead.” 


Nineteen countries contributing troops to the
International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in
Kabul are expected today to agree to stay in
Afghanistan for the full six months of the
peacekeeping mandate (Michael Evans writes). Britain,
which had initially limited its involvement in Isaf to
three months, has already said it will stay for the
full term. The 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian
Regiment is in training to replace the 2nd Battalion
The Parachute Regiment at the end of next month.
 
 


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