US special forces are operating in southern Afghanistan, a government official said yesterday, opening a significant new phase in America's military response to terrorist attacks.
Members of the secretive forces have begun supporting efforts by the intelligence community to undermine the Taliban regime, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said military action could increase markedly in coming days.
It was likely the troops were operating in hostile territory because almost all of southern Afghanistan is under Taliban control, unlike parts of the north.
US warplanes eased their bombardment after dawn Friday, Islam's holy day. In Pakistan, a Taliban official said his side had nothing to fear from US commandos.
"Fifteen or 20 troops will be able to do nothing," embassy spokesman Sohail Shaheen said. "If they want to send in soldiers, they should send in 100,000. Then it can be a fight between our soldiers and theirs."
Instead, he said, America has been waging "a war against civilians."
US Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday night that airstrikes since Oct. 7 against terrorist camps and military targets have made a new phase of the war possible.
"The success of our air campaign has cleared the way for further action which the Taliban and terrorists can neither predict nor escape," he said in a speech in New York.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday airstrikes alone will not be enough to rid Afghanistan of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Ground forces will be needed to root out Osama bin Laden and other terrorists and the Taliban that shelter them, the secretary said.
Rumsfeld said "you cannot really do sufficient damage" with air power alone.
Warplanes "can't crawl around on the ground and find people," he said.
At a news conference in Shanghai US President George W. Bush declined to comment on the development that ground forces are involved.
But Bush reiterated that "we will do whatever is necessary to achieve our objective."
In a sign that the entry of significant numbers of US ground troops into Afghanistan could be imminent, the Pentagon on Thursday released the transcript of messages broadcast from planes to Afghanistan over the past few days.
Afghans were advised that once US ground forces arrived, the safest place to be would be in their homes.
"Attention. People of Afghanistan, United States forces will be moving through your area. ... Please, for your own safety, stay off bridges and roadways, and do not interfere with our troops or military operations," the broadcasts advised.
"If you see United States forces, you need to find shelter and not leave it until we have left the area. ... Your home will be the safest place."
The broadcasts vowed to give no quarter to Taliban soldiers and al-Qaeda supporters who did not surrender.
"Attention, Taliban. You are condemned. Did you know that? The instant the terrorists you support took over our planes, you sentenced yourselves to death," they said.
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