December 15, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 29, 1422

WITH THE US MARINES IN AFGHANISTAN, Dec 14: US Marines in Afghanistan suspended flights of supplies and forces into Kandahar airport on Friday because of a threat to aircraft, officers said Friday.

“Until they eradicate that threat, or at least identify that threat, they’re not going to bring any other aircraft in,” Lieutenant James Jarvis, a Marine spokesman, told reporters.

Marines are investigating the “anti-air threat” spotted by intelligence services in the afternoon, hours after hundreds of Marines swept into the airport from desert staging areas to secure it for military and eventual civilian use.

Not only have food and water supplies been suspended, but “it has impacted our planning in terms ... of flowing in additional forces,” he said.

If the Marines identify the threat “as not being manned,” flights could be resumed, he added.

He described the suspension of flights as a “minor” setback to the timeline for deliveries. However, he added, “it could potentially be a major setback in terms of taking down one of our aircraft.”

BOOBY TRAPS: Hundreds of US Marines searched Kandahar airport for mines and booby traps, and found several, after sweeping in before dawn on Friday to occupy the complex.

The Marine operation was launched a week after Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda forces were driven from the battered airport in southern Afghanistan, leaving scores of booby traps behind.

Australian troops were also involved, one officer said.

The Marines said they had found six booby trap devices in one outfield building but none in the main terminal.

“We are not surprised by this given what has happened in other parts of Afghanistan,” said explosives officer Staff Sergeant Kristian Lippert.

In their most ambitious operation since they landed in Afghanistan on November 25, the Marines launched a land- and helicopter-borne force from Camp Rhino south of Kandahar and from the Bataan carrier in the Arabian Sea.

It gathered Thursday night at staging areas further north before moving to the airport in a 40-vehicle convoy.

“Special forces guided us in through the streets of Kandahar,” said Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Hoffman, adding that the airport “is a mess”.

But he predicted that US C-130 transport planes might be able to land later Friday.

Brigadier General James Mattis, commander of the task force, said it moved in with the approval of Afghanistan’s future interim leader, Hamid Karzai. He said about 200 Marines were involved.

“We are here to help the Afghan people. We would not be here if Mr. Karzai had not asked us,” he told AFP. “Our first job is to open the airport.”

Officers said earlier that securing the airport would provide a new base for US military flights and would probably pave the way for aid flights.

But officers Friday declined to say whether this marks a new phase in the US campaign.

“I cannot tell you about future operations,” said Captain David Romley, a Marines spokesman.

He said several dozen armoured vehicles, with anti-tank weapons and machine guns, were also guarding the airport in the country’s second city. Its Taliban rulers, who for years shielded bin Laden’s fighters, surrendered to US-allied Afghan forces a week ago.

Mattis said British forces are expected at the airport soon.

Lieutenant Colonel Dan Yoo, speaking at a rear base in the southern desert, said Marines were joined at Kandahar airport by Australian military forces who have been working with them at Camp Rhino. He gave no details.

“There is a ton of unexploded ordinance,” Marine Lieutenant Don Faul said. “There are active minefields all around. Our biggest priority now is making sure that the airfield is safe and operational.”

Throughout Thursday night aircraft could be heard landing and taking off at Camp Rhino.

F-18 and F-14 fighters were launched meanwhile from the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea. KC-130 refuelling tankers and other planes took off from land bases in the Gulf and Indian Ocean region.—AFP