Osama bin Laden: Cornered in Kunar or Nuristan?
By Afzal Khan, Terrorism Focus (Jamestown Foundation), Volume 2, Issue 13 (July 13, 2005)
The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and U.S efforts to capture and kill him have made many media headlines over the years, resulting in some plausible speculation and many figments of the imagination. But the June 28 U.S. military operation in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province may have stirred the hornet's nest of Praetorian Guards around the al-Qaeda leader, who is presumed to be ensconced in the 15,000-foot-high mountains and steep forested valleys of Nuristan province just north of Kunar, and the U.S. military may have come closer to its quarry than ever before.
That operation, which resulted in the loss of a Chinook MH-47 helicopter with 16 Special Operations Forces personnel sent to extract a four-man Navy Seal reconnaissance team trapped in the area, points to a level of sophisticated enemy activity not seen before. It was the single biggest loss of U.S. military personnel in a hostile action since Afghanistan was invaded by U.S. and Coalition forces after September 11, 2001.
The military activity in Kunar province is still ongoing with some 300 personnel involved, including Afghan government soldiers. The B-52 bombing of a suspected militant hideout on July 1 reportedly killed 17 civilians, including women and children, in Chichal village. The U.S. military has since apologized. (PakTribune.com, July 5).
The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and U.S efforts to capture and kill him have made many media headlines over the years, resulting in some plausible speculation and many figments of the imagination. But the June 28 U.S. military operation in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province may have stirred the hornet's nest of Praetorian Guards around the al-Qaeda leader, who is presumed to be ensconced in the 15,000-foot-high mountains and steep forested valleys of Nuristan province just north of Kunar, and the U.S. military may have come closer to its quarry than ever before.
That operation, which resulted in the loss of a Chinook MH-47 helicopter with 16 Special Operations Forces personnel sent to extract a four-man Navy Seal reconnaissance team trapped in the area, points to a level of sophisticated enemy activity not seen before. It was the single biggest loss of U.S. military personnel in a hostile action since Afghanistan was invaded by U.S. and Coalition forces after September 11, 2001.
The military activity in Kunar province is still ongoing with some 300 personnel involved, including Afghan government soldiers. The B-52 bombing of a suspected militant hideout on July 1 reportedly killed 17 civilians, including women and children, in Chichal village. The U.S. military has since apologized. (PakTribune.com, July 5).
posted by Gordon Stables | 4:16 PM
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