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Tuesday March 19, 6:53 AM Britain in massive troop deployment as Anaconda declared over Coalition forces wound up a massive offensive against the last known Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold late Monday as Britain announced it is sending 1,700 troops to Afghanistan in its biggest military deployment since the 1991 Gulf War. British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon made the surprise announcement following a request from the US. "We will be asking them to risk their lives," he told parliamentarians. "Their missions will be conducted in unforgiving and hostile terrain against a dangerous enemy. "They may suffer casualties." The full infantry battle group will initially deploy to this airbase north of Kabul. The first elements will be on the ground within days and will be ready to start offensive operations by mid-April. They will join a US-led brigade "forming a potent force ready to undertake such operations", said Hoon. The British force is based around 45 Commando, a Royal Marines unit. Many of them are already in the region aboard a British troop carrier and the rest will be flown in from their home base in Scotland. The troops will be supported by artillery, logistics and engineer elements as well as three Chinook helicopters. "This is a powerful force, in total up to 1,700 strong. We will ensure that it is ready to take part in operations as quickly as possible," Hoon said. Meanwhile in Washington Operation Anaconda against diehard al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia was finally declared over. "Operation Anaconda is complete," Brigadier General John Rosa said in Washington, adding that around 500 soldiers from the international coalition were still searching the Shahi Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan for ammunition caches and documents. The announcement came shortly after US military Central Command chief General Tommy Franks made a morale-boosting visit to forces here. Franks handed out four medals for valour and congratulated troops for the operation's "unqualified and absolute success". "You did it, you did it on time, with a good plan ... you did it with care of one another and (by) taking care of business," Franks said Monday. But the general admitted enemy fighters could still regroup in Afghanistan and conceded he was still in the dark about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the man accused of masterminding the September 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington. He refused to be drawn on the number of enemy fighters that had been killed. US military officials have said hundreds died on the battlefield, but few bodies have been recovered. "What I have seen leads me to believe this operation was an unqualified and absolute success, not only from all the American and coalition forces involved but also from the point of view of the Afghan forces involved," he told reporters. "You know that we do not do body-counts. That's not the way we do this. "We look for the enemy. We find the enemy. I think it's been said we either bring the enemy to justice or we bring justice to the enemy," Franks said. The general said he did not know how many Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters remained inside Afghanistan, adding it was possible there were other concentrations of fighters. "Does the possibility exist for another group of foreign fighters inside Afghanistan such as we found in the Shahi Kot area? Yes, I believe it's possible for fighters to group in various places," he said. "I think that is why we have to be careful to say this is not over. One should suspect the operations will continue because, yes, there's a possibility for some forces to maybe regroup and perhaps enemy forces we've not yet found the location of," he said. As many as 16 suspected al-Qaeda were killed in a special forces raid Sunday south of Gardez, capital of Paktia province, a US defence official said in Washington. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
