US troops, shipped in on waves of helicopters, have landed near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, last stronghold of the Taliban, officials of anti-Taliban tribes said on Sunday.
Since about 6.00 p.m. (1300 GMT) when tribal fighters took control of the airport southeast of Kandahar, a stream of US helicopters has been landing at the air field, said Mohammad Anwar, spokesman for Gud Fida Mohammad, a commander of the Achakzai tribe fighting at the airport.
Kandahar, powerbase of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, is the last bastion of the fundamentalist movement, whose hold on the northern redoubt of Kunduz crumbled in the face of a Northern Alliance advance on Sunday.
Huge aircraft were circling in the skies and a stream of helicopters flew constantly in and out of the airfield, Anwar told Reuters by telephone.
Some of the helicopters were described as Chinooks bringing in armoured vehicles. If confirmed, these would be the first such US armour to land in Afghanistan since the United States launched its attacks on October 7 in pursuit of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
The tribal leaders, including Hamid Karzai, a supporter of ex-king Zahir Shah, and former pre-Taliban Kandahar governor Gul Agha, involved in the action, had cut the main road to Kandahar at Takteh Pol, some 45 km (30 miles) from the town of Spin Boldak near the border with Pakistan, Anwar said.
The commanders were moving toward the Taliban-held town of Spin Boldak to try to clear the rear for the US forces before any advance on Kandahar, Anwar said.
The reports could not be independently confirmed and the Pentagon declined to comment.
"We cannot discuss future or ongoing military operations or troop movements," said Air Force Lt. Col. Ken McClellan, a Pentagon spokesman.
In Kandahar, one resident said the roar of planes could be heard from the direction of the airport and large flashes had been seen on the horizon from near the airport, some 20 km (12 miles) to the southeast of the ancient city.
At the airport, US troops had secured the exterior of the airfield, a target of intense bombing by US warplanes since the raids began on October 7, Anwar said.
Helicopters had been flying constantly into the base during the evening, unloading US soldiers loaded with packs and baggage, Anwar said.
The men appeared to be commandos, Anwar said. His commander, Fida Mohammad, was in talks with the Talibanmilitia at Spin Boldak to try to persuade fighters there to surrender without bloodshed.
Witnesses at Chaman said they could see some Taliban fighters beginning to withdraw, although others -- heavily armed -- had gathered close to the fence that marking the porous Pakistan frontier.
The sound of the aircraft broke the night silence around Spin Boldak for 30 minutes from around 1:30 a.m. (2030 GMT), said a Reuters correspondent on the border.
Dozens of pickup trucks -- their lights extinguished - were driving out of Spin Boldak and south into the southern Afghan desert, the correspondent said.
(China Daily November 26, 2001)
