US-led force tightens grip on al-Qa'ida

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Coalition and Afghan forces continued to squeeze a group of desperate and encircled Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters yesterday as waves of warplanes struck their inaccessible mountain strongholds.

Afghan commanders sent fresh troops to bolster the assault south of the eastern Afghan city of Gardez, and reinforcements of US soldiers were flown to supporting positions. "They can't escape," Abdul Matin Hasan Khiel, a frontline commander, said. "They're surrounded. Slowly, slowly we are pushing in."

Just how many regrouped al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters are holed up around the remote village of Shah-e-Kot remains unclear. On Monday, General Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command, said he believed there may be up to 400. But the Afghan Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah, said yesterday he believed that 1,000 fighters – most al-Qa'ida – were 12,000ft up in the mountains. Dr Abdullah said Shah-i-Kot was al-Qa'ida's biggest stronghold, "though there might be small pockets of al-Qa'ida or individuals in other parts of the country".

The thrust of Operation Anaconda – the name chosen because of the snake's habit of constricting its prey – is being led by US special forces and troops from the élite 10th Mountain Division and the 101st Airborne Division. Special forces from six other coalition countries have also been involved, as well as the Afghan volunteers. The Western-led forces total more than 2,000.

Much of the US ground force in Afghanistan has now been flown to Bagram air base north of Kabul to support the offensive. General Franks said Afghan troops were encircling the 60sq-mile area to prevent the Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters escaping. After fighting last year in the mountains of Tora Bora, many fighters slipped across the border into Pakistan because their escape routes had not been blocked.

Commanders say 200 fighters have been killed and several prisoners taken. They say the Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters have shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles such as Russian SA-7s and possibly US Stingers as well as mortars, grenades and cannons.

The bodies of the seven US soldiers killed on Monday in two Chinook helicopter incidents were flown to Germany, bound for America.