Reports say bin Laden's cornered
By August Cole, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:35 PM ET Dec. 14, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Osama bin Laden is reportedly cornered in the Tora Bora region of the White Mountains in Afghanistan.
CNN reported Friday that U.S. military officials told the network that the holdout fighters in eastern Afghanistan were battling with a ferocity that indicated they may be protecting the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks. The New York Times reported a similar scenario and also cited an unnamed military official.
Two previous attempts at a cease-fire and surrender for the al-Qaida troops failed.
Operations in the area are bolstered by an increasing number of U.S. and allied special operations troops, the Pentagon said Thursday, as well as close air support provided by long-range bombers and lower-flying tactical aircraft.
That involvement clearly carries risk. Two U.S. commandos were lightly wounded by machine gun fire, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Marines have also taken control of the Kandahar airport, the city that was the spiritual seat of the now deposed Taliban regime.
This apparent progress comes as the U.S. released on Thursday a video that showed bin Laden and his associates discussing their satisfaction with the success of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In other developments:
Washington police said they found anthrax spores in the Senate office building even after the complex was scrubbed down, the Associated Press reported. The building has been closed since Oct. 17.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was to travel to Central Asia and Europe on Friday. He will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have engaged in sporadic fighting over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh; Belgium, seat of the European government; and Georgia, a former Soviet satellite.
The European Commission said Friday it will work to get Afghanistan on its political and economic feet with a contribution of 4.9 million euros. The goal, the EC said, is to provide a foundation for the planned Afghan administration set to take power on Dec. 22. This comes as the European Union said it's going to dispatch a peacekeeping force of up to 4,000 soldiers to Afghanistan.
August Cole is spot news editor at CBS.MarketWatch.com in Chicago
