The US Defense Department said Monday that it has sent more commandos to Afghanistan to help in the hunt for Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden.
More American troops were sent Friday into the country's south, where special operations forces have been gathering intelligence and setting up roadblocks to try to catch bin Laden and the fleeing Taliban, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told reporters.
There are a few hundred Americans now on the ground throughout the country, Clarke said.
"The number of special forces in the South is still relatively modest ... a few hundreds in the whole country. It has increased in the South in recent days," she said.
Clarke said that the United States has no reason to believe that Osama bin Laden has left Afghanistan.
"We don't have reason to believe, or suspect that he is out of the country," she added.
Bin Laden is considered a "prime suspect" by the US authorities in connection with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2001)
