29 February 2004	Sunday	08 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Hundreds of US-led coalition troops on Saturday launched an operation in Afghanistan's Khost province to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

Quoting witnesses AIB said about 35 military vehicles and tanks were seen moving towards the south-eastern part of the province close to the Pakistani border.

"The convoy has now reached around the areas of Tora Ghara, Toda Cheena and Mustalbar and has launched the search operation along the Pakistan-Afghan border region," travellers crossing the border and heading for Miranshah told AIP.

Helicopters were also flying over the area that faces Pakistan's north Waziristan region in the east, they said.

According to AIP no Khost official was immediately available for comment on the new operation but US officials had indicated last week that a big mobilization of coalition troops in Afghanistan was imminent to flush out militants suspected to be hiding in the mountain region. There had been rockets attacks in recent weeks from the south-eastern part of the Khost aimed at US and government targets.

Khost had been one of the main strongholds of the Taliban regime in the years before they were toppled by a US-led military coalition in late 2001. Some 11,500 US troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan to hunt down remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and members of the Al Qaeda network, mainly in the south and southeast.-dpa