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50 al-Qaeda fighters have surrendered: Rumsfeld
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday that 50 al-Qaeda fighters had surrendered, and that they were running out of escape routes. He said Opposition forces had advanced about 2 km during the past eight hours of battle in the Tora Bora region in what he called fierce fighting.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday that 50 al-Qaeda fighters had surrendered, and that they were running out of escape routes. He said Opposition forces had advanced about 2 km during the past eight hours of battle in the Tora Bora region in what he called fierce fighting.
Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters en route to Central Asia, also Rumsfeld plans to visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. In the fiercest fighting yet of the Tora Bora campaign, US special forces joined Afghan guerrillas in attacking al-Qaeda positions, including a machine-gun nest. Two Americans were wounded by enemy fire.
A tribal leader said he believes Osama Bin Laden was cornered in the rugged mountains, perhaps in one of the caves where his fighters have been holding out against the unrelenting onslaught by the Alliance and US troops and American bombers.
As the group came under heavy fire from a machine-gun nest, two Americans were grazed -- one in the shoulder, the other in the knee -- said Khawri, an Afghan assigned to fight with them. They were not identified.
Khawri, who goes by one name, said Afghans helped the Americans down the mountainside and bundled them into a truck.
Gen Tommy Franks, the US commander of the war, said he had no information on Americans being wounded but could not rule it out.
Franks said he would not know until at least Saturday how many al-Qaeda prisoners had been taken or whether any were senior leaders of Bin Laden's terrorist network. He said they would be screened by US forces.
Meanwhile, President George W Bush appealed for patience. Bureau Report
Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters en route to Central Asia, also Rumsfeld plans to visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. In the fiercest fighting yet of the Tora Bora campaign, US special forces joined Afghan guerrillas in attacking al-Qaeda positions, including a machine-gun nest. Two Americans were wounded by enemy fire.
A tribal leader said he believes Osama Bin Laden was cornered in the rugged mountains, perhaps in one of the caves where his fighters have been holding out against the unrelenting onslaught by the Alliance and US troops and American bombers.
Khawri, who goes by one name, said Afghans helped the Americans down the mountainside and bundled them into a truck.
Gen Tommy Franks, the US commander of the war, said he had no information on Americans being wounded but could not rule it out.
Franks said he would not know until at least Saturday how many al-Qaeda prisoners had been taken or whether any were senior leaders of Bin Laden's terrorist network. He said they would be screened by US forces.
Meanwhile, President George W Bush appealed for patience. Bureau Report