Strikes clear path for ground forces

3:30 pm - By KIM SENGUPTA and ANDREW BUNCOMBE

The United States and Britain are preparing for a new, more dangerous phase of their military campaign against Afghanistan that will see ground forces unleashed against Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network.

As Allied forces carried out a third night of air strikes, the Pentagon today claimed it had virtually knocked out the Taleban's air defences, paving the way for the next phase and the deployment of additional American and British ground troops on the borders of Afghanistan.

"In the next week, you'll see people start moving," said one official.

The planned deployment is expected to include the dispatch of a further 1,000 US troops to Uzbekistan, where 1,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division have already arrived.

British forces are also expected to move to Uzbekistan. A large number is likely to be deployed straight from the 24,000 involved in the exercise Operation Saif Sareeya, in Oman. Paratroopers recently returned from peace-keeping in Macedonia, and Royal Marines are also expected.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said 85 per cent of designated targets inside Afghanistan had been hit and US and British warplanes could operate around the clock with minimal risk.

General Richard Myers, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, added: "Essentially we have air superiority over Afghanistan."

These claims, backed by satellite photographs purporting to show the destruction of an al-Qa'ida training camp, a surface-to-air missile site and the runway at the important Shindand air base in west Afghanistan, make it likely the air-strike phase of the campaign will be wrapped up in a day or two.

Members of Britain's SAS (Special Air Service), and SBS (Special Boat Service), with the US anti-insurgency Delta Force, are already in Afghanistan gathering intelligence. They may be joined by pathfinders from the Parachute Regiment.

Some of the US force will be transferred from peace-keeping in the Balkans. There are 3,600 in Bosnia and 5,300 in Kosovo. It is believed that elements of the 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, will be deployed from Kentucky.

Some units will be sent to Uzbekistan, where a former Russian base, Tuzel, can house up to 20,000. There are additional bases at Termez and Dzakurgan.

Their main task would be protection and rescue, flying in and out of Afghanistan on Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters. Others may be flown to air bases near Quetta, in Pakistan, where they will wait for helicopters from the carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

Whether the units base themselves in Pakistan will depend on the volatile political situation there. It is unlikely that either troops or equipment will be kept there if the violent protests against the allied action in Afghanistan continues.

If Pakistan is dropped as an option, the units are expected to be moved to Uzbekistan, although this may need further negotiations with the Uzbek government. But they can also be based in Afghanistan.

With little danger from Taleban air defence, US and British forces can be flown in to seize bases in the country. Although the forces will be prepared for combat, many of these airfields will probably have been abandoned by Taleban forces retrenching around the cities.

The Russians built 220 airstrips during their intervention in Afghanistan, and have supplied details to the Allies. But the all-weather air base at Bagram, 32 km north of Kabul, with its two-mile runway, is highly desirable.

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INDEPENDENT