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US to send nearly 2,000 Marines to Afghanistan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-26 14:53 The United States will add nearly 2,000 Marines
with special operations training to the 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to
boost security and intensify the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives,
defense officials said on Thursday.
The officials told Reuters that most of a major unit of up to 2,200 Marines
stationed on warships in the Gulf would be moved to Afghanistan. The Marines
from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are on a seven-ship naval Expeditionary
Strike Group, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp.
"With the weather warming up, it is an opportunity to add forces and press
the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban," said one military official.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan have stepped up operations in the remote,
mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of Operation
Mountain Storm.
American-led forces are seeking al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is
blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and other key
fugitives.
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of
Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday that in addition
to the hunt for guerrillas, the United States wanted to beef up security ahead
of elections scheduled for summer in Afghanistan.
"A couple of events (are) happening in Afghanistan that we want to ensure
there's appropriate security for," Myers said.
SECURITY FOR AFGHAN ELECTIONS
"As you know, they're going to be elections some time this summer, perhaps
late summer ... And we want to make sure that event goes well," he told
reporters.
"There are still pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda that need to be dealt with,"
Myers added.
The Wasp strike group, carrying 2,000 to 2,200 Marines from the 22nd Marine
Expeditionary Unit, left North Carolina on Feb. 19 for a scheduled six-month
deployment in the Gulf region and arrived in recent days, officials said.
"Some of the those Marines will participate in and support operations in
Afghanistan," said another defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The United States, beefing up its forces in the region, already has 2,000
other Marines inside Afghanistan as part of the 11,000-strong U.S. military
contingent there.
Officials provided no timetable for the new deployment and said the exact
number from the Wasp group who will be sent into Afghanistan depended on the
circumstances on the ground and requirements identified by commanders.
Marine Corps officials said the troops were trained for special operations
missions, and that the Wasp, resembling a small aircraft carrier, carried attack
helicopters and Harrier fighter jets. Officials gave no further details about
the Marines' possible missions.
Under an initiative begun by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Marines are
being trained to join Army Special Forces soldiers in operations in what U.S.
officials call the global war on terrorism.
A Navy official said four of the seven ships in the group are positioned in
the Gulf: the Wasp, the guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown, the dock landing
ship USS Whidbey Island, and the amphibious transport ship USS Shreveport.
The official said two others are in the north Arabian Sea: the guided missile
cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the guided missile destroyer USS McFaul. The official
declined to identify the location of the final vessel in the group, the attack
submarine USS Connecticut.
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