The armed forces of the United States have lost 102 men killed and 124 wounded during the "anti-terrorist" operation which began in Afghanistan in October 2001. The figure was furnished to Itar-Tass by military sources in the Afghan capital.

They noted that the indicated number of killed and wounded American officers and men included only the "combat losses" sustained by U.S. troops during the operations against Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.

If the more than 50 Americans, who lost their lives in various accidents, including those in the republics of Central Asia, and the few dozens of men wounded under similar circumstances, were to be added to this figure, the total number of casualties would reach about 300.

The American Air Force has lost about 15 aircraft during the operation in Afghanistan. The number of American warplanes shot down does not include the F-14 "Tomcat" deck fighters, since these losses have not been confirmed, the sources said.

About 1,000 American, Afghan and Canadian servicemen are now searching mountain caves near the town of Gardez, 150 kilometres to the south of Kabul, which previously provided shelter to Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters. Pentagon official Dave Lapen said that allied soldiers were now destroying the weapons and ammunition discarded by terrorists, looking for documents that could shed light on them. According to Lapen, the search is proceeding slowly owing to booby-traps.

The U.S. intelligence has found at least 12more seats of Al-Qaeda and Talib resistance in Afghanistan. This was reported in Thursday's issue of the New York Post, which quoted Pentagon officials. The newspaper notes that none of these areas are comparable, as regards the number of defenders, to the Shah-i-Kot Valley in Paktia Province, where fierce battles were recently fought in the course of the "Anaconda" operation. According to Pentagon estimates, this enemy group consists of about 1,000 men.

Officials of the U.S. Defence Department noted that small groups of American commandos were now launching reconnaissance raids against Taliban concentrations in Southeastern Afghanistan. Their task is to obtain information for new large-scale operations, similar to "Anaconda".

According to the newspaper, one of the areas, where enemy fighters are concentrated, is near Kandahar, on the territory of the Pushtun tribe to which Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar belongs.

Three Al-Qaeda fighters were killed on Thursday by Canadian and American soldiers in the course of the "Harpoon" operation under way in Eastern Afghanistan. Officials of the Canadian National Defence Ministry reported that 500 Canadian and 100 American servicemen, commanded by a Canadian officer, were taking part in that operation.
According to Canadian military sources, the purpose of the operation is to wipe out or capture about 100 Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, entrenched in the mountains south of Gardez. The area was heavily bombed before the operation began. It is reported that heavy fire was exchanged there on Thursday. There were no losses reported among the Canadian and American soldiers.

Analysts note that this is the first time since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War that a Canadian military contingent has taken part in such a large-scale military operation. At present, there are 900 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.