Afghan fighters whittled away at Osama bin Laden's remaining guerrilla forces yesterday, capturing 50 and killing 20, but the question remained whether the Saudi-born militant was trapped with his men.
As US warplanes dropped more bombs on the cave and tunnel hideouts of the al-Qaeda guerrillas in eastern Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Afghan and US troops had made a major advance against the besieged fighters.
PHOTO: AFP
"The forces on the ground near Tora Bora have advanced about 2km ... in the last eight hours ... a heck of a lot in that kind of terrain," Rumsfeld told reporters before a refuelling stop in Ireland en route for central Asia.
Both Rumsfeld and Afghan commanders said about 50 al-Qaeda fighters had surrendered in the thrust by Afghan forces and small numbers of US special forces, who were now helping to clear the ground.
Said Mohammad Pahlawan, a commander returning from the front line in the rugged White Mountains, also said 20 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed, all Chechens.
"All those who surrendered had guns, but the Chechens don't want to surrender," he said.
There were still no clear signs on the whereabouts of bin Laden, accused by Washington of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on US cities that killed about 3,300 people.
US officials say they believe he is still in the Tora Bora area, but the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted informed sources on Friday as saying he had left.
In Washington, US President George W. Bush vowed on Friday: "I don't know whether we're going to get him tomorrow, or a month from now, or a year from now. I really don't know. But we're going to get him. He may hide for a while, but we'll get him."
In Tampa, Florida, General Tommy Franks, who is directing the US "war against terrorism," said the al-Qaeda combatants were running short of ammunition, food and water.
"We can wait longer than they can and will maintain pressure until they are over," Franks told a briefing in his headquarters at the US Central Command.
US warplanes launched some of their most intensive bombing raids yet on al-Qaeda's mountain lairs early yesterday.
"A special push has been made overnight," said Haji Atiqullah, a spokesman for commander Haji Zahir.
"There was very heavy bombing through the night," tank commander Babreg said.
Rumors abounded that bin Laden's forces in Tora Bora -- or black dust -- in the White Mountains about 40km south of the eastern city of Jalalabad might be ready to give up.
"I have heard talk of this, but I have no news," Babreg said.
Meanwhile, in the southern city of Kandahar, armed Arab fighters, said to be Saudis, were in a hospital, threatening to blow themselves up if anyone tried to capture them.
Doctors in the Mirwais hospital said they were afraid the fighters -- admitted to the hospital about two weeks ago while the city was still in Taliban hands -- could cause huge damage.
"The injured Arab fighters possess hand grenades and other small weapons," surgeon Daud Farhad said.
US resolve to finish the fight against bin Laden was stiffened by the Thursday's release of a captured videotape that showed him gloating over the havoc wrought on Sept. 11.
The videotape, seen in Washington as a major propaganda coup, received a mixed reception in the Muslim world, where some questioned whether it was genuine. Bush said it was "preposterous" to suggest it was a fake.
Seeking to cement Washington's international coalition, Rumsfeld arrived in Azerbaijan yesterday with the offer of military and economic assistance to states close to Afghanistan in return for their help in the US war on terrorism.
Rumsfeld was on the first leg of a one-day tour of the south Caucasus states of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. The three former Soviet republics have offered Washington use of their airspace for US military action in Afghanistan.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS