War_Is_Real

War Is Real The U.S. moves coincide with reports from Afghan officials in the border area that the United States and its allies were readying another major operation against members of the al Qaeda network and Afghanistan’s Taliban militia, which was ousted from power last year. The United States has blamed al Qaeda for the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and New York. Advertisement U.S. military officials yesterday reported two firefights in the area, in which U.S. and Australian special forces troops killed four al Qaeda fighters. Army Maj. Gen. Franklin L. “Buster” Hagenbeck, the U.S. ground commander in Afghanistan, said the two fights occurred northeast of Khost, about a mile from the Pakistani border. In the first incident, Australian forces were attacked with mortar and rocket-propelled grenades, and returned fire, killing two, according to Australian military officials. In the second clash, Hagenbeck said, U.S. and Australian troops ambushed fighters who were moving near Khost before dawn yesterday, killing another two. The operation that appears to be looming promises to be smaller and more diffuse qaeda, fighters, al, military, said, forces, troops, border, united, two, states, official, australian, afghan, yesterday, think, shahikot, operation, officials, killed, khost, intelligence, hagenbeck, fight, defense, coverage, battle, attacks, area, anaconda, against, ability, war, tracking