Firefights with U.S.-led forces leave four dead

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Firefights between U.S.-led special forces and suspected al-Qaida terrorists left up to four of the suspects dead, a U.S. general said Tuesday, detailing attacks in an eastern region where allied leaders say pockets of al-Qaida fighters are holed up.

No allied soldiers were hurt. Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck said that while the hunt for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters has weakened the enemy, it still had the ability to launch "low-level" terror attacks such as suicide and car bombings.

Hagenbeck, commander of allied troops in Afghanistan, said the clashes occurred about one mile from the Pakistan border, northeast of the city of Khost, where coalition forces have been stepping up the hunt for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

In recent days, the U.S. has gained a toehold across the border into Pakistan's lawless tribal lands, with a small American force assisting Pakistani troops in their search for fugitives.

In the first of the two attacks, Australian military officials said their special forces shot some attackers Monday after coming under mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

"Our soldiers returned fire, killing or wounding two of the terrorists," said Brig. Mike Hannan, a spokesman for the Australian military in Canberra.

Hagenbeck said the bodies of the two suspected al-Qaida gunmen were dragged away by fellow fighters.

In the second attack, Hagenbeck said two others were killed before dawn Tuesday. Australian special forces were also involved in that firefight, U.S. officials said.

"We knew how they would react once the sun went down last night. So we were ready for that and we killed two ... as they were coming back through the area," Hagenbeck told reporters at Bagram air base, north of Kabul.

Staked out for two days

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilferty said coalition special forces had been staking out the area near the Pakistani border for two days when allied troops came under fire on Monday morning.

Hilferty said a 200-man quick reaction force -- two infantry companies from the 101st Airborne Division -- were flown in by helicopter two hours later and found mortars, grenades and machine-gun ammunition in a sweep of buildings and nearby caves. He said the surviving fighters appeared to be part of a larger group that had fled into surrounding mountains.

The clashes occurred in the same eastern region where the last major battles against the Taliban and al-Qaida were fought in March during Operation Anaconda -- the largest U.S.-led ground offensive in Afghanistan.