- While the Pentagon and White House have maintained a
tight lid on any strategic information coming out of Afghanistan, Russian
military intelligence has been closely monitoring U.S. activities in the
country, claiming that 18 U.S. soldiers were captured and then executed
by the Taliban, reports Geostrategy, the global intelligence news agency.
-
- All of the soldiers are believed to have been executed
on April 10 after the United States ignored a Taliban and al-Qaida deadline
for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
-
- No bodies have been recovered.
-
- The Russians also assert, in details confirmed in part
by U.S. officials, that U.S. forces have been mired in a guerrilla war
against determined al-Qaida and Taliban forces.
-
- From Oct. 7, 2001, until September 2002, 152 Americans
were killed in Afghanistan with another 215 wounded, according to the intelligence
data.
-
- The bloodiest battle took place in March 2002 during
Operation Anaconda in the Pactia province in southeastern Afghanistan.
-
- At least 60 U.S. soldiers, say the Russians, were killed
or wounded in the battle, most of them by mines, light-weapons and mortar
fire.
-
- Russian intelligence claims that after initial gains,
U.S. forces have failed to find or dislodge al-Qaida or Taliban troops
from numerous areas, particularly along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
-
- The result has been a demoralized U.S. military and the
withdrawal of many troops from combat in an effort to reduce casualties,
the report concluded.
-
- Editor's note: WorldNetDaily brings readers exclusive,
up-to-the-minute global intelligence news and analysis from Geostrategy-Direct,
a new online newsletter edited by veteran journalist Robert Morton and
featuring the "Backgrounder" column compiled by Bill Gertz. Geostrategy-Direct
is a subscription-based service produced by the publishers of WorldTribune.com,
a free news service frequently linked by the editors of WorldNetDaily.
-
- http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29954
|
