| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 15, 2001 |
Bin Laden may Try to Fly out of Afghanistan in a Helicopter: Rumsfeld |
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Terror suspect Osama bin Laden may try to outmaneuver US-led forces seeking him out by sneaking out of Afghanistan in a helicopter, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfelt told The New York Times.
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Terror suspect Osama bin Laden may try to outmaneuver US-led forces seeking him out by sneaking out of Afghanistan in a helicopter, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfelt told The New York Times.
"My guess is what he'd probably do is take a helicopter down one of those valleys that we couldn't pick up and pop over to some part of the country where there is an airfield and have a plane waiting for him," Rumsfeld said in an interview published Thursday.
Rumsfeld said US forces in Afghanistan were making things as difficult as they can for bin Laden as they try to flush him out of his hiding place.
"We're actively trying to make it hard for him to do anything. And we spend a lot of time looking for the leadership cells of al-Qaeda and Taliban, and when we find them we try to destroy them."
Senior US official told the daily that more than 100 US commandos were on the ground in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban still operate, driving around in special vehicles, carrying out covert operations against the Taliban and bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The special forces, the officials said, have blocked roads and marked potential landing strips for US forces, and conducted reconaissance missions.
Another objective of the special forces, the officials said, was to show the Taliban that the US military can operate on the adversary's turf.
Rejecting the notion that the United States is resisting committing large number of troops in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld emphasized the role of US Special Operation forces.
"They are letting the population know that everyone best be careful what they do, where they go, how they behave, and that there's a presence in the south that had not been there previously," he said.
Despite the tightening noose around bin Laden, Rumsfeld admitted the terror suspect could flee Afghanistan.
"He's got the wherewithal to do pretty much what he wants, at least to try to," he said.
Rumsfeld said that while three-quarters of the Taliban's fleet of helicopters had been destroyed since the US bombing raids began October 7, some choppers may have been hidden and made available to bin Laden.
He said that by hugging the ground and flying in bad weather, a helicopter could escape detection and make it out of the country.
"I've heard reports that helicopters have been observed in and around the Pakistani border in weeks past that we were not able to detect," Rumsfeld said.
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