WASHINGTON, Feb 23: The United States is moving a super- secret commando unit from Iraq to Afghanistan to join the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the Washington Times reported on Monday.

It is the same unit that played a major role in catching former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from a hideout near his hometown of Tikrit last year. Pentagon officials told the newspaper they were moving the unit to Afghanistan for two reasons: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed.

Second, US officials now possess authentic intelligence reports about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and feel that they need to increase their efforts to catch him.

In a front page story on Monday, the newspaper identified the unit as Task Force 121, a mix of Army Delta Force soldiers and Navy commandos called SEALs. Delta-SEAL teams typically move into theatre, practice missions and wait for military and CIA intelligence to provide the location of a target.

US military sources said reports of Osama's movements are becoming more numerous as the Al-Qaeda leader hides in the mountainous terrain straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Osama bin Laden is thought to be in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border but US said its troops will not cross into Pakistan, leaving the hunt on the ground for Osama bin Laden to the CIA, and the Pakistan army.

The officials however warned that specific intelligence on Osama's whereabouts might prompt the use of a Delta-SEAL task force to raid his hide-out if he is found on the Pakistani side of the border.