U.S. troops dispersed throughout Afghanistan, region

By MATT KELLEY
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – About 30,000 U.S. troops are involved in the military campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan, but only a fraction are actually inside the country.

Most are based on Navy ships or land bases outside the South Asian country.

Here, in question and answer form, is a look at the U.S. forces in the region:

Q: Where are the U.S. troops in Afghanistan?

A: About 4,000 American troops are scattered throughout the country.

One of the largest concentrations is at the airport in Kandahar, the southern city that was the Taliban's final stronghold. More than 1,000 troops, mostly Marines, are at that base. They have built a detention center for hundreds of prisoners, while other troops are fixing the airport and removing mines to allow for humanitarian relief flights.

The Marines also are using the base as a launching pad for missions to aid in the hunt for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division have begun arriving at the Kandahar base to relieve some of the Marines, who will return to their ship, the USS Peleliu, in the Arabian Sea.

Q: What about near Kabul?

A: The largest number of U.S. soldiers near the capital are at the former Soviet air base at Bagram, which is roughly 35 miles north of the Kabul. Several hundred soldiers are there, many from the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

They are holding about a dozen prisoners and helping get the airport ready to handle humanitarian flights.

U.S. troops also are in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif where they are holding one prisoner and helping repair the city's airport.

Q: Where are U.S. special forces?

A: At the peak of fighting last month, scores of U.S. special forces troops were in the Tora Bora area of eastern Afghanistan where officials believed bin Laden was hiding. An unknown number of special forces troops remain in the area, searching the abandoned caves for intelligence about al-Qaida and possibly bin Laden's remains.

Other special forces units are in small groups elsewhere in Afghanistan, providing advice and supplies to local anti-Taliban forces. As many as 200 CIA operatives also are in Afghanistan.

Q: What about neighboring countries?

A: More than 1,000 soldiers, most from the 10th Mountain Division, are at an air base in Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan to the north. The soldiers are providing security, keeping the base repaired and maintaining the aircraft that land there.

At least several hundred U.S. soldiers are at several bases in Pakistan, performing similar tasks.

Although U.S. forces have scouted air bases in Tajikistan, which is next to Uzbekistan on Afghanistan's northern border, no American soldiers are using those bases.

Q: At sea?

A: Although Afghanistan is landlocked, dozens of U.S. ships in the Arabian sea are participating in the campaign. They have launched airstrikes and surveillance flights, fired cruise missiles and investigated merchant ships to try to block any Taliban or al-Qaida members from fleeing.

They include two amphibious assault battle groups – the clusters of ships that are home base for the Marine units now in southern Afghanistan. The lead ships of each group, the USS Bataan and the USS Peleliu, also have held Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners, including American John Walker Lindh.

Q: What about aircraft carriers?

A: Several aircraft carriers and their battle groups – including destroyers, cruisers, submarines and support ships – also have been a part of the mission. Each carrier group includes more than 8,000 sailors and Marines. The USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS John C. Stennis are in the area now, serving as bases for F-14 and F/A-18 strike jets and surveillance and jamming planes.

The USS Kitty Hawk had arrived in the Arabian Sea without most of its usual complement of planes and acted as a staging area for special forces troops before it left the area last month. The USS Carl Vinson and USS Enterprise also participated in the campaign's opening weeks.

Q: Are U.S. forces participating in the Afghanistan war based anywhere else?

A: Yes. U.S. military planes flying from as far away as Missouri have dropped bombs or humanitarian aid on Afghanistan.

U.S. B-52, B-1B and B-2 bombers have used an air base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Some military flights that dropped humanitarian food packets originated at bases in Germany. Some B-2 bombers have flown marathon missions, taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, dropping bombs on Afghanistan and landing at Diego Garcia to refuel and change crews before returning to the United States.

The U.S. Third Army has temporarily moved its headquarters to Kuwait, where officers oversee Army operations in Afghanistan. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is permanently headquartered in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.

APNP-01-04-02 0113CST