U.S. Destroys Cache, Takes More Prisoners
Jan. 25 -- U.S. military forces in Afghanistan destroyed a massive munitions stockpile and took prisoners after an intense firefight, the Pentagon announced today.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. military is holding 27 prisoners believed to be Taliban leadership after a firefight about 60 miles north of Kandahar that left a U.S. soldier with non-life-threatening injuries on Thursday. In addition to the 27 new captives, Afghan authorities turned over five more prisoners to U.S. forces in Kandahar, Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said at a press briefing today.
Pentagon officials said an AC-130 gunship was called in to destroy a massive cache of weapons discovered during the firefight. The stockpile included 400 rounds of 60-millimeter mortar munitions, 300 rocket-propelled grenades, 300 100-millimeter rockets, thousands of rocket fuses, and more than a half-million small arms rounds, Stufflebeem said. The destruction of the cache set off significant secondary explosions, he said.
A Pentagon source told ABCNEWS at least 15 anti-U.S. fighters were killed in the action. The new detainees taken in Thursday's raid brought to 297 the number of suspected Taliban and al Qaeda members in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, where the United States began its war on terrorism last October after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Intelligence sources told ABCNEWS the United States is increasingly worried by signs Taliban fighters are starting to regroup and re-arm. Reuters reported that former al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan are trimming their beards, speaking the local language and gaining support from the locals.
At the Pentagon today, Stufflebeem said pockets of remaining al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are probably communicating with phones or radios.
Some Detainees to Go Home?
In Guantamo Bay, Cuba, a senator traveling with the congressional delegation to the detention facility said the administration is considering sending many of the Afghan war detainees back to their homelands after their interrogations are completed. However, no decisions have been made, and the detainees could still face either military tribunals or military trials.
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