Coalition troops disarm village suspected of harboring al-Qaida

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Sunday, May 5, 2002

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Coalition forces disarmed an entire village suspected of harboring al-Qaida fighters in southern Afghanistan, confiscating an anti-aircraft gun and other weapons, a U.S. military spokesman said Saturday.

U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops participated in the operation Friday, Maj. Bryan Hilferty said.

"They weren't terribly happy but there was no resistance," Hilferty told reporters at Bagram air base, speaking of the villagers. He declined to identify the village.

Also, waves of Chinook helicopters took several hundred Canadian troops Saturday from their staging base at Bagram to an operation in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan troops participated in the Canadian-led mission, which had U.S. air support.

"Things are going well, and there have been no battlefield casualties reported," said Col. John Collin, the senior Canadian officer in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, a 1,000-strong British-led force continued a major push through southeastern Afghanistan, seizing 2,000 rounds of automatic weapons ammunition in a cave, said Royal Marines spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Harradine.

The British-led operation, dubbed Operation Snipe, is going through as-yet unchecked mountainous territory in search of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and hide-outs they may have used.

Harradine has declined to give many details about the sweep, which involves U.S. air support and some U.S. special operations soldiers, as well as Afghan infantry units.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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