4.00pm
WASHINGTON - More than 1,000 Australian, British and US troops have launched a new offensive against Taleban and al Qaeda fighters in the eastern Afghan mountains.
Britain's Ministry of Defence said more than 1,000 Royal Marines from 45 Commando Division had been sent to hunt out al Qaeda remnants known to have been active in the region close to the border with Pakistan.
The marines, who have already been on one combat operation since arriving in Afghanistan last month, had not yet encountered any opposition, a spokeswoman said.
In Washington a senior US official who asked not to be identified said about 200 soldiers from the US 101st Airborne Division would join the British Marines, Canadian troops and others already involved in the operation.
The Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill confirmed to the AAP news agency that Australian SAS soldiers were part of the new offensive.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Helen Clark said New Zealand would comment on whether their SAS were involved.
The Washington Post said up to 1,000 US soldiers could join the operation near the city of Khost, only 32km from the Pakistan border.
But both the US Central Command based in Tampa, Florida, and the senior US official disputed that figure.
"The number is high. But certainly a large number are being moved," the official said.
The Pentagon believes hundreds of al Qaeda fighters of fugitive Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September attacks on America, and their Taleban allies could be in the area.
One US official confirmed the Post report that the United States had also moved AH-64 "Apache" attack helicopters to a US special forces base near Khost.
US and Afghan troops conducted a major two-week operation in the mountainous region around Gardez in early March. American warplanes dropped more than 2,500 bombs in "Operation Anaconda" on what they said were al Qaeda and Taleban positions.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined to confirm or deny the troop movements, but told reporters at a briefing that al Qaeda were still hiding in Afghanistan and over the border in Pakistan.
"There is no question but that in the two locations I've said -- in the country and over the borders -- there still are a nontrivial number of those folks that would very much like to take back the country," he said.
"It is our task to see that that doesn't happen," Rumsfeld added. He said he did not personally know of any "actionable" intelligence reports suggesting that bin Laden or other leaders of al Qaeda were hiding on either side of the border.
Rumsfeld told reporters travelling with him on a trip to Afghanistan last week that spring could bring a regrouping of remnants of al Qaeda and Taleban fighters. But he said the 7,000 US and 5,000 other Western troops in Afghanistan were ready.
- REUTERS
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Australian, British and US troops in new Afghan offensive
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