New Afghan Danger

By Tim McGirk

As the biggest U.S. military operation of the past 10 months unfolded in Afghanistan, U.S. and coalition troops encountered signs that the Afghan campaign has taken a dangerous turn. Until recently, small bands of pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas engaged in shoot-and-dash attacks on American outposts that were more annoying than dangerous. But during last week's fire fight, the U.S. uncovered evidence that the enemy has more ambitious plans. Searching the more than 160 caves that honeycomb the Adi Ghar mountains near Kandahar, U.S. troops found six large arms depots and food supplies, which suggest that the guerrilla force was using the area as a long-term staging post, according to a U.S. military spokesman.

The battle began after U.S. troops, tipped off by a panicky rebel soldier at a roadblock, discovered a pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold of more than 60 men in the mountains. When U.S. troops fired on the rebels, they scattered quickly, and helicopters and bombers pummeled the area for 36 hours. An Afghan commander who took part in the fighting says 22 rebels were killed and 13 captured. By the weekend, troops were still pursuing rebels who had scrambled into the rocks.

Not all the proof of the rebels' growing strength was found in the wreckage of the fire fight. Other violence last week showed a weakening of President Hamid Karzai's central government. A bomb attack on a bus in southern Afghanistan killed at least 18 civilians. Afghan authorities blame members of the former Taliban and al-Qaeda for the blast, and possibly a ruthless veteran of Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who seems to be consolidating power among the insurgents. In Kabul, police arrested three al-Qaeda suspects who allegedly planned to blow up the heavily fortified U.S. embassy, which is used by the international peacekeeping force. "The Taliban and al-Qaeda fled to Pakistan," says Abdul Raziq, an allied Afghan commander. "But now they're heading back." --By Tim McGirk