U.S. forces face hit-and-run attacks near Afghan bases

Enemy rockets explode routinely near American military bases in Afghanistan, and snipers ambush troops on patrol, even as the Pentagon tries to focus less on combat and more on reconstruction of the war-shattered country.

The campaign that started as a major mobilization last year against Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida network fighters and their Taliban militia comrades has ground on for months as a low-intensity guerrilla conflict. But there has been a spike in hit-and-run attacks on U.S. forces in the past few months, with troops coming under fire several times a week.

A U.S. soldier killed in a firefight Saturday was the first American combat death since August, when a soldier died of wounds from a July ambush.

The allies often do not catch the attackers and do not know who they are, but defense officials believe most are al-Qaida and Taliban remnants or their sympathizers. Most use crudely made, remote-controlled weapons that often miss their mark. Most are in the southeast, near the border with Pakistan, an area that has traditionally supported the Taliban for ethnic, religious and political reasons.

"We're going to take some casualties. Unfortunately, we did have a tragic death last night, but that, I don't think, has anything to do with the situation," Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Saturday.

Dangerous part of country

"I think the security situation in eastern Afghanistan is going to be a problem for some time to come just because of the freedom of operation back and forth from the Pakistani (border) to the Afghan border." Myers told reporters at a U.S. base in Bagram, just north of the capital, Kabul. "There's still some very dangerous parts of the country, ... but my assessment is that things continue to improve."

On that premise, the Pentagon is preparing to shift its focus in Afghanistan next month and expand programs to build roads, provide medical care and do other humanitarian and reconstruction work where security is relatively ensured. In places where it is not, the hunt will continue for enemy fighters and their weapons caches.

The plan includes deployment of eight to 10 regional teams of some 60 special forces troops, State Department aid workers and other international forces, said Joe Collins, an assistant defense secretary for stabilization operations.

"The purpose of the teams will be to facilitate reconstruction and to help spread security," Collins said. "They will also work to dampen regional tensions and serve as the eyes and ears" for the U.S. military and diplomats in the country.

Officials hope the program will help win the hearts and minds of Afghans and legitimize the government of President Hamid Karzai, which has little control outside a capital monitored by international peacekeepers. The Bush administration hopes Afghans will turn more toward the government and less to local warlords or militias as leaders and providers.

The overall plan is for international forces to continue training of an Afghan national army they hope will eventually fend for itself against any attempted resurgence of Taliban and al-Qaida.

"I think we're on the road to an endless commitment there," said Ivan Eland of the Cato Institute think tank. "We could have our finger in the dike in Afghanistan."

It long has been clear that the warlords had goals that competed with those of the United States, including settling old feuds and gaining power for themselves. From time to time, their factional fighting has drawn fire to U.S. forces.

Americans called in bombing support from a B-52 on Dec. 2 when they were trapped by a battle between two warlords in western Afghanistan.

The warlords, who rule by virtue of their private armies, are stronger today than a year ago.

"We could be getting embroiled in a civil war," Cato's Eland said.

Analysts also fear that within Karzai's own government is embedded a seed of disaster in ethnic rivalries involving among others his defense minister, Mohammed Fahim, a Tajik warlord. Western diplomats in Afghanistan say he has hindered formation of an army so as not to diminish his own forces, which has alienated Pashtuns and Shiite Muslims, who together constitute two-thirds of the Afghans.

Nevertheless, Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. effort in Afghanistan, promised during his latest visit to Afghanistan to soldier on. "While an awful lot has been done in Afghanistan, this is Afghanistan," Franks said. "We're just going to have to stay with it for as long as it takes."