October 18, 2002	Friday	Sha'aban 11, 1423

LONDON, Oct 17: Inadequate communications equipment and slow reactions by military commanders allowed hundreds of fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden to escape during the US-led war in Afghanistan, a leading global security think-tank said in a report released on Thursday.

The problems occrred in the second phase of the war, when coalition forces pursued the remaining hardcore groups of fighters from bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and the former Taliban regime into the mountains, according to the annual report of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Communications from forces on the ground identifying potential targets for bombing strikes or rapid troop deployments was often inaccurate or were not acted upon in time, the institute’s 2002 Military Balance report said.

“Notwithstanding the technical advantage possessed by US forces, they lacked sufficient accurate and timely tactical information to enable carefully targeted operations to deal with the considerable numbers of enemy that remained at large,” the report said.

The IISS singled out the 17-day “Operation Anaconda” last March, when 1,000 troops from the US 10th Mountain Division attempted to cut off and storm Taliban strongholds in the Shahi Kot valley and Arma mountains, backed by hundreds more Afghan soldiers and special forces.

“By the time the operation ended, it was clear that many opposition fighters had escaped the cordon, with significant number later reported in the Pakistani tribal areas,” the report stated.

“Even when US forces did produce accurate and timely tactical information, this was not always followed by prompt action.”

But the IISS said the lessons had been learned by military planners, and have already led to “enhancements in command and control arrangements” as well as “improvements in ground-to-air communications systems”.

Washington said hundreds of extremist fighters were killed in Operation Anaconda in Paktia province, but conceded that many more might have escaped.—AFP