U.S. Forces on Ground in Afghanistan
Oct. 19 -- U.S. special forces, including Army Rangers and helicopters, have engaged Taliban forces in battle in Afghanistan, sources told ABCNEWS.
The operation is in addition to the small number of elite troops also on the ground in Afghanistan that are attempting to forge political and military links with opposition groups fighting the Taliban.
Defense officials declined to reveal details of the ground action.
There have been reports of U.S. troops operating in Afghanistan since the military campaign began, but sources say this "handful" of operatives is working with intelligence operatives on establishing ties with opposition groups for a possible postwar government.
They are not thought to be conducting the same mission as reconnaissance teams who are believed to have been moving in and out of the country providing targeting information since the Oct. 7 raids began.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged U.S. forces were working closely with the Northern Alliance, saying "There is good coordination from the air with the ground in some places, particularly in the north. There is not that kind of coordination as of yet in the south."
A Northern Alliance commander said eight U.S. personnel are in northern Afghanistan and have been traveling with warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum.
"Yes, they are with Gen. Dostum in Dara-i-Suf [55 miles southeast of the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif]," Ustad Attah Mohammad told Reuters. "There are eight of them and they came by helicopter some time back. The helicopters went back and these men look to be reconnaissance or intelligence rather than ground troops."
‘We Are Ready for Them’
Word of new U.S. personnel in Afghanistan drew a defiant response from the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, who said, "We are ready for them," when asked about the possibility of U.S. troops in the country.
Zaeef was returning from meetings with the Taliban regime's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and Osama bin Laden. He told reporters in Quetta, Pakistan, he "brought a plan with [him]," which he said he would disclose after meeting with Pakistani officials.
