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U.S.
attack may have killed 7 al Qaeda members;officials reaffirm intent
to help form Afghan army WASHINGTON
— A missile fired by a CIA-operated drone aircraft in eastern
Afghanistan killed seven suspected members of Osama bin Laden’s
al Qaeda terror network, an Afghan leader said Thursday. Bin Laden
was not among the dead, the official said. No mention of the attack was made during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday by the U.S. war commander, Gen. Tommy Franks. The general told panel members that much remains to be done in Afghanistan. In eastern Afghanistan, Wazir Khan, a brother of regional warlord Bacha Khan, said bad weather in the mountainous region in Paktia province had hampered efforts to get to the attack site. He said seven people were killed in the attack Monday, but that “Osama is not among those people.” A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least one person was killed — possibly a top al Qaeda figure. The U.S. official said two Hellfire missiles were fired at people at the site at different times on Monday. The official said the missiles probably came from the same Predator drone, which can carry two missiles. In his Senate testimony, Franks said the U.S. military will play a role in creating an Afghan national army, but that does not mean American troops will become part of an international peacekeeping force there. “We intend to help them form an Afghan national army. There is no question about that,” Franks said. Specifics on how U.S. forces will carry out that effort remain undetermined and under discussion, Franks said. Franks said much work remains to be done by the U.S. military in Afghanistan, including the exploitation of documents and other evidence found at sites suspected of being involved in the development of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Franks said he will not recommend to President Bush that U.S. military operations in Afghanistan be phased out “as long as there is a credible threat from puddles or pockets of al Qaeda or residual hard-core Taliban” forces. Word of the Predator missile attack came Wednesday as CIA Director George Tenet came under criticism in Congress for not penetrating Saudi-born fugitive bin Laden’s network. Tenet said such accusations were not true but would not elaborate publicly. U.S. officials have said seven top al Qaeda officials have been killed and three captured since military action began in Afghanistan Oct. 7. An additional 15 key al Qaeda leaders are unaccounted for, including bin Laden. U.S. forces in Afghanistan were preparing Wednesday to take possession of as many as 60 more Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners held by Afghan forces, a senior U.S. defense official said. The number of prisoners in U.S. custody in Afghanistan has stood at 324 for more than a week; there also are 158 al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The transfer of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay resumed Wednesday with an Air Force C-17 transport plane taking off from Kandahar. It was due to arrive in Cuba on Thursday. At the Pentagon, a senior defense official said about 30 prisoners were aboard the C-17, the first flight in a planned series of about five to Guantanamo Bay over the next 10 days to two weeks. |
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