BAGRAM AIR BASE, July 29: Three companies of US paratroops have been airlifted into the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, as part of an ongoing combat mission against Taliban and Al Qaeda network, the US military said on Tuesday.

The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers were transported by CH-47 Chinook helicopters to the 3,260 metres high peaks of the Ayubkhel valley to take part in Operation Warrior Sweep, it said in a statement.

They will carry out the mission alongside 1,000 Afghan national army troops.

“The initial purpose of the mission was to set up blocking positions to intercept any Taliban or Al Qaeda forces that may have been travelling in the valley,” the statement said.

“The valley was the primary travel route used by the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces during Operation Anaconda last year,” it said.

Operation Anaconda was a massive assault launched in March 2002 against Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters holed up in the mountains of Paktia province.

The current operation began on July 23 and on Saturday troops found two-way radios and large caches of ammunition and explosives in a nearby village after receiving intelligence reports of Al Qaeda personnel there.

They recovered dozens of grenades, C-4 plastic explosives, a crate of dynamite, more than 20 rocket propelled grenade rounds, a box of anti-aircraft rounds and hundreds of 7.62 mm and handgun rounds, it said.

Soldiers said the extremists had been forewarned and removed major weapons.

“The (Taliban and Al Qaeda) personnel knew we were coming so they packed up what they could, but they left a lot of stuff behind,” 2nd Lieutenant Che Atkinson said in the statement.

“The more stuff we find, the less stuff they have to come back to.”

US troops also took six Afghans into custody for further questioning at Bagram air base, some 50 kilometres north of Kabul.

Military spokesman Colonel Rodney Davis said US and Afghan troops had captured seven suspected Taliban during the operation, but the nationality of the last person was not revealed.

US paratroops said it was difficult to tell “enemy forces” from regular villagers.

“They blend in with the local population and there’s not really much we can do,” Specialist Edward Michel said.

“You can’t go in there and just rustle up a bunch of villagers because that’s not the way we do business.”

So far there had been no contact with Taliban or Al Qaeda forces, the statement said, adding that the mission was ongoing.

But soldiers said the mission had been a success.

“This has been the most successful mission we’ve been on, based on the fact that we’ve recovered so much ammunition and explosives,” said 1st Sergeant LaMarquis Knowles.

One soldier suffered a suspected broken ankle and another was sent back to Bagram because of illness during the operation.

Meanwhile, a US base in central Uruzgan province came under rocket attack but there were no casualties.

“One rocket impacted in the vicinity of the fire base at Deh Rawood last night (Monday),” Colonel Davis told reporters at Bagram.

VILLAGERS FLEE: Villagers in northern Afghanistan have fled renewed fighting between rival militia factions which left one dead and two injured, a local official said on Tuesday.

Fighting between two rival factions of the ethnic Hazara Wahdat party erupted on Monday in Gawak village, Balkhab district of Sar-i-Pul province, Balkhab district head Asadullah Danish said.

Clashes between rival commanders of the Wahdat-Khalili faction of Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili and Wahdat-Akbari faction left one militiaman dead and two wounded, Danish said.

“It is the third time that these two local commanders of Akbari and Khalili have fought each other in Balkhab district and a lot of local people were killed in these conflicts,” he said, adding that many local families had fled the latest fighting.

“Every time they fight, local villagers leave their homes and flee.”

Mr Danish said he had requested officials in neighbouring Balkh province send a commission to disarm the factions.

Three local factions had agreed to disarm the district within 20 days following a visit by the Mazar Security Commission and United Nations officials, the UN said last week.

A UN spokesman on July 20 said about 66 people had been killed in factional fighting in the region since April, according to an unofficial tally. —AFP