Author: Agencies
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 13, 2001
Washington, December 12: US intelligence
services believe they have detected Osama bin Laden and members of his
inner circle in Afghanistan's mountainous Tora Bora region, a US government
official said.
US forces dropped their largest
conventional bomb - a 7.5-tonne (15,000-pound) "daisy cutter" -- on a cave
in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend in hopes of killing senior al-Qaeda
leaders, including bin Laden, according to the Pentagon.
"There were some indications that
bin Laden was in the area when the daisy cutter was dropped," the government
official told AFP. The official, who insisted on anonymity, said the anti-Taliban
fighters in the Tora Bora region had been successful in confining al Qaeda
fighters to "an increasingly smaller region".
ABC news reported that in addition
to causing mass destruction, the bomb blast had sparked a series of panicked
radio and satellite calls among al Qaeda members. Those communications
provided confirmation that the Saudi-born dissident and his entourage remain
in the region, the network said.
According to ABC news, US forces
are now using aerial surveillance to track several groups of al Qaeda fighters
as they attempt to flee the area. The network quoted intelligence sources
as saying bin Laden is believed to be with them. The US government official
refused to confirm or deny this part of the report.
