Material Found Near U.S. Missile Attack
Feb. 10, 2002 -- U.S. forces searching the remote scene of a U.S. missile attack Monday in eastern Afghanistan have found "biological material," which might possibly include human remains, ABCNEWS has learned.
Among the U.S. forces are forensics experts, and American officials are hopeful they will find biological matter suitable for DNA and other analysis so that it can be determined if those killed belonged to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network — and if so, who they were.
On Monday, a remote-controlled U.S. Predator spy plane fired two Hellfire missiles at a group of heavily guarded men gathered near a truck in the remote area who were believed to be high-ranking members of al Qaeda.
Bad weather and the inaccessible terrain of the area has caused delays in a U.S. investigation of the attack. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Penatgon briefing Friday that more than 50 personnel had finally arrived to "exploit any intelligence that can be gathered at the site," near Zawar Kili, but officials said Saturday that bad weather again was impeding operations.
Because of their mode of transport, the presence of heavy security, and the fact that the men were in Arab-style dress, U.S. officials believe the men were members of bin Laden's Arab-dominated organization.
Because one of the men was unusually tall, there was also some speculation that bin Laden himself may have been killed. Bin Laden is believed to be about 6 feet 4 inches tall.
U.S. intelligence sources have collected some DNA material from thebin Laden family, which might help to identify bin Laden or other close relatives.
But at Friday's Pentagon briefing, Myers and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said they did not know if bin Laden had been one of the targets in the attack.
"The strike was on some individuals. Who is to be determined," Myers said. "That's what they're gathering the intelligence on."
Wazir Khan, a brother of regional warlord Bacha Khan, told The Associated Press seven people were killed in the attack, but Osama bin Laden "is not among those people."
More Detainees, Few Changes at Guantanamo
On Saturday, another 34 detainees from fighting in Afghanistan arrived at Camp X-Ray, the U.S. detention facility at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — bringing the total number of detainees there to 220.
Although U.S. officials announced last week that the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of war prisoners should apply to detainees from the ousted Afghan Taliban regime, but not to detainees of the al Qaeda network, Marine Brigadier General Michael Lehnert told reporters, "Neither al Qaeda not Taliban [detainees] will see huge changes in their daily routine."
"Though the detainees were not entitled to POW privileges, they had been provided many POW privileges as a matter of policy," said Lehnert, in charge of the detention mission.
"They receive three meals a day that correspond to their dietary laws," he said. "They have the opportunity to worship, the opportunity to send and receive mail subject to security screening.
"Privileges that they will not receive, because they have not been granted POW status, include access to a store — referred to as a canteen in the Geneva Convention — to purchase food, soap and tobacco; a monthly advance of pay; the ability to have personal financial accounts; and the ability to receive musical instruments and sports outfits."
Lehnert said while officials have classified some of the 220 prisoners as Taliban or al Qaeda, they have yet to classify a large number of the detainees. He also suggested that the interrogations of the prisoners may not be yielding as much information as expected, or making it easy to classify them.
"Many of the detainees are not forthcoming," he said. "Many have been interviewed as many as four times, each time providing a different name and different information."
Prisoner Release
In other developments:
As the United States continues to seek out top leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban, Afghanistan's interim government showed mercy to some lower level Taliban fighters Saturday. Around 300 of them were declared released today in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul. "We decided sometime back that we will begin to release everybody, those who were not found with any bad record or links with terrorists and all that," Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai said. "So that just the common people, we just let them go home."
After his surrender Friday, U.S. officials are holding Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the former Taliban foreign minister, at the American base at the Kandahar, Afghanistan, airport. U.S. officials are hoping Muttawakil, who was among America's most wanted fugitives in Afghanistan, will be able to provide intelligence on the wherabouts of other Taliban or al Qaeda officials.
As Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf flies to meet with President Bush in Washington this weekend, his government announced it would provide more help to U.S. troops in Pakistan. Pakistan will provide food, fuel, water, communications and medical services to American troops stationed there. President Musharraf is traveling to Washington to discuss future American-Pakistan cooperation.
The official count of those killed at the World Trade Center is down to 2,843, after months of double-checking and confirmations by investigators. The number once topped 6,700.
ABCNEWS' John McWethy, Martha Raddatz and Brian Hartman at the Pentagon contributed to this report.