Source: Team of Missing GIs May Be Alive
July 1, 2005 — -- There are indications a small special operations team of U.S. soldiers -- which has been missing in the rugged mountains near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border for four days -- may be alive, a senior military official tells ABC News.
"We have gotten various signals," said the official.
American military forces today scoured the mountain range for the team, which is badly outnumbered by enemy forces and armed only with rifles, pistols, and knives.
On at least one occasion, emergency beacons the men were carrying were activated. The military is also tracking the team through reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
"They'll also be able to get infrared hotspots at night that they'll be able to pick up from various platforms to be able to detect any movement and also if they are stationary," said Ret. Gen. Jack Keane, an ABCNEWS consultant.
As many as 1,000 U.S. troops, as well as Afghan forces, are now searching the area from the air and by foot in the mountains where the men were last seen.
On Tuesday, a MH-47 Chinook helicopter involved in the search was shot down by Taliban rebels, killing all 16 people aboard.
Because the team is so small, their main goal now is to evade the enemy, military analysts say. What concerns the military most is that the men have not made radio contact.
They carry sophisticated communications gear, night vision goggles, and global postioning equipment.
"They've got the right equipment -- and not just weapons and Special Forces communications equipment -- but they've got the right survival gear," said Maj. James Gavrilis, a career U.S. Army Special Forces officer.
Even in the harshest conditions, the miltiary says the men could survive for weeks.
"They're low on food, they're low on water, but they know how to deal with that," Keane said. "And this is what their training is all about, being able to survive a tough situation like this."
ABC News' Martha Raddatz filed this report for "World News Tonight."