STRATEGY
U.S. Might Pursue Qaeda and Taliban to Pakistan Lairs
By DEXTER FILKINS
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, March 20 - The commander of American forces here said today that they might cross the border into Pakistan to capture or kill Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters widely believed to have found sanctuary there.
In an interview at his headquarters here, Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck of the 10th Mountain Division said chasing Al Qaeda and the Taliban into Pakistan would be a "last resort" carried out with the approval of Pakistani leaders.
Just 20 miles from the border with Pakistan, near Khost, American troops were attacked from several directions with mortars, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades for about an hour on Tuesday night, American military officials said. One soldier received a bullet wound in the left arm.
"Our forces returned fire, and B-1's and AC-130 gunships responded," Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., deputy director of current operations for the Joint Staff, said during a Pentagon news briefing.
General Hagenbeck said it was not clear whether the Americans were caught in fighting between Afghan factions or had come under attack from Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters.
American commanders have said fighting in Afghanistan may increase as the snows melt in spring. There also have been growing signs that American military leaders are thinking about broadening the field of action by moving against Taliban and Al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan, where the government says it has deployed thousands of troops to seal the border.
General Hagenbeck suggested that sealing the border was not the Pakistani government's highest priority. "I think Pakistan is more focused on tensions with India," he said....
...A decision by American forces to cross the border and strike Al Qaeda sanctuaries is politically explosive in Pakistan, where General Musharraf's decision to side with America in its battle against militant Islam is already drawing widespread opposition....
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/21/international/asia/21AFGH.html> -- Yoshie
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