New US-led offensive in Tora Bora
US soldiers patrol a mountain in the eastern province of Kunar, Afghanistan (file photo)
The offensive involves ground troops and airstrikes
Hundreds of US and Afghan soldiers have returned to launch a new attack on the last known hideout of the fugitive al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
They have launched an air and ground assault in the Tora Bora region, near the border with Pakistan.
A US military spokeswoman said the mountainous terrain was an ideal environment to conceal militant bases.
Tora Bora was the scene of a failed major US operation to capture Osama Bin Laden in 2001.
Families flee fighting
Reports say dozens of families in the area have fled the latest fighting.
A US military spokeswoman, Captain Vanessa Bowman, said the assault was launched against targeted positions:
"The targets were carefully chosen to pinpoint enemy positions and eliminate the likelihood of harming innocent civilians."
"This region has provided an ideal environment to conceal enemy support bases and training sites, as well as plan and launch attacks aimed at terrorizing innocent civilians, both inside and outside the region," she said.
She did not say how long the operation would continue for.
The Tora Bora region, a complex of caves, is known as the last stronghold of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
News of the US offensive comes as three German nationals were killed, and a fourth wounded, by a roadside bomb, near the Afghan capital, Kabul.
They were travelling in a diplomatic convoy. Local police say the blast was caused by a remote-controlled bomb, which completely destroyed one vehicle.
In a separate incident, a British national working for a private security firm which guards the British embassy, was killed by unknown assailants in Kabul.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | New US-led offensive in Tora Bora
US soldiers patrol a mountain in the eastern province of Kunar, Afghanistan (file photo)
The offensive involves ground troops and airstrikes
Hundreds of US and Afghan soldiers have returned to launch a new attack on the last known hideout of the fugitive al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
They have launched an air and ground assault in the Tora Bora region, near the border with Pakistan.
A US military spokeswoman said the mountainous terrain was an ideal environment to conceal militant bases.
Tora Bora was the scene of a failed major US operation to capture Osama Bin Laden in 2001.
Families flee fighting
Reports say dozens of families in the area have fled the latest fighting.
A US military spokeswoman, Captain Vanessa Bowman, said the assault was launched against targeted positions:
"The targets were carefully chosen to pinpoint enemy positions and eliminate the likelihood of harming innocent civilians."
"This region has provided an ideal environment to conceal enemy support bases and training sites, as well as plan and launch attacks aimed at terrorizing innocent civilians, both inside and outside the region," she said.
She did not say how long the operation would continue for.
The Tora Bora region, a complex of caves, is known as the last stronghold of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
News of the US offensive comes as three German nationals were killed, and a fourth wounded, by a roadside bomb, near the Afghan capital, Kabul.
They were travelling in a diplomatic convoy. Local police say the blast was caused by a remote-controlled bomb, which completely destroyed one vehicle.
In a separate incident, a British national working for a private security firm which guards the British embassy, was killed by unknown assailants in Kabul.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | New US-led offensive in Tora Bora
Hopefully, the results will lead to a stable Afghanistan and then the FATA and NWFP could be addressed by Musharraf, who is at his tethers end with this whole problem that is reducing his credibility both domestically and internationally.
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