CHAMAN, Pakistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - U.S. troops, shipped in by waves of helicopters, have landed on the ground near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, last stronghold of the Taliban, officials of anti-Taliban tribes said on Sunday. (Read photo caption below)
Such a move would mark a dramatic new development in a war that the United States has so far conducted almost entirely from the air. It would herald a final push to take Kandahar, power base of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and the last bastion of the fundamentalist movement since their northern redoubt of Kunduz crumbled before a Northern Alliance advance on Sunday.
Since about 6.00 p.m. when tribal fighters seized control of the airport southeast of Kandahar, a stream of U.S. helicopters has been landing at the air field, said Mohammad Anwar, spokesman for Gud Fida Mohammad, a commander of the Achakzai tribe that had fought to take the airport.
Huge aircraft circled in the skies while a stream of helicopters flew constantly in and out of the airfield, Anwar told Reuters.
Some of the helicopters were described as Chinooks bringing in armored vehicles and, if confirmed, these would be the first such U.S. armor to land in Afghanistan since the United States launched its attacks on October 7 in pursuit of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
The tribal leaders, including Hamid Karzai, a supporter of ex-king Zahir Shah, and former pre-Taliban Kandahar governor Gul Agha had cut the main road to Kandahar at Takteh Pol, some 30 miles from the town of Spin Boldak near the border with Pakistan, Anwar said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
U.S. troops, shipped in on waves of helicopters, have landed near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, last stronghold of the Taliban, officials of anti-Taliban tribes said November 25, 2001. Flight operations continue as Aviation Ordnancemen transport a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) across the flight deck, while CH-53 'Sea Dragon' aircraft assigned to the 'Black Stallions' from Helicopter Support Squadron Four (HC-4) prepare to unload critical cargo, November 21, 2001. (Jeremie Kerns - U.S. Navy/Reuters)