WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002
WORLD
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Israel invades Palestinian city, camps
The Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli tanks and troops thrust into Palestinian refugee camps and took command of the streets in this key West Bank city yesterday, killing 31 Palestinians in one of Israel's largest military operations ever in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Seven Israelis were killed, including six in an ambush just inside the border with Lebanon. The attackers disguised as Israeli soldiers were reportedly Palestinians who slipped across Israel's previously quiet northern frontier
— raising the prospect of a new front in the current Mideast conflict.
Israel began stepping up its military operations against Palestinian militants two weeks ago after a series of deadly attacks on Israeli civilians. Since then, large numbers of tanks and troops have charged into six Palestinian towns and refugee camps.
Israeli security sources said yesterday that most combat soldiers in Israel's standing army and some reserve troops were deployed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — the most expansive operation since Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israel's Channel I television said 20,000 Israeli troops were involved.
Troops ready for 'final push' to eliminate Taliban regime
The Associated Press
GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Advancing U.S. and coalition forces fought with small groups of al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts yesterday as allied troops worked their way through the warren of mountain caves in eastern Afghanistan — their progress slowed by mines and booby traps.
soby trips.
Throughout the day, high-flying U.S. B-1 bombers pounded al-Qaida and Taliban positions on a ridgeline that U.S. officers dubbed "the whale." The dull thud of distant detonations could be heard yesterday night in Gardez, about 20 miles northeast of the front line.
As U.S. bombers flew overhead, Afghan fighters maneuvered tanks into position for what commanders said would be a final push to eradicate al-Qaida fighters.
Afghan fighters loyal to commander Zia Lodin said they breached the first lines of al-Qaida and Taliban defenses yesterday but were stopped by hostile fire and land mines.
Another commander, Abdul Matin Hasankhiel, predicted it would take several days for government forces to organize for a final push.
Advancing Afghan troops found the bodies of seven foreign fighters yesterday, according to an Afghan commander.
Abdul Hanan. He said he was not sure whether they were Arabs or Pakistanis.
U. S. CH-47 Chinook helicopters flew what appeared to be small tanks into the battle area of Operation Anaconda at the base of the snowcapped Shah-e-Kot mountains.
"We will continue combat
operations in this area until we remove these parasites from Afghanistan," said Maj. Bryan Hilfert y, spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division.
At the Pentagon. Air
A U.S. special forces delegation met yesterday with members of the Gardez town council to enlist their help in preventing Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives from receiving food, supplies and shelter from sympathetic local Afghans.
Force Brig, Gen. John Rosa said U.S. and allied Afghan forces battled small pockets of enemy fighters in the Shah-e-Kot area yesterday, Rosa said U.S. strike aircraft had dropped more than 100 bombs since Monday, bringing the total to more than 2,500 bombs since the offensive began March 2.
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Rosa also said U.S. troops had begun searching abandoned al-Qaida caves in the area. He said there were "upwards of 40" caves there and that there had been no additional American casualties.
The U.S. delegation also urged the council to convince
residents to turn in Taliban or al-Qaida fighters who manage to escape the coalition onslaught in the Shah-e-Kot area, according to council chairman, Saful-lah.
U. S. aircraft dropped leaflets with a similar message over five villages on the Pakistani side of the border, residents said. The Shah-e-Kot region contains hundreds of possible escape routes to Pakistan, and residents scoff at suggestions that all of them can be monitored or closed.
"We were asked by the local authorities not to give any shelter to al-Qaida or the Taliban, and we are committed not to give them shelter, because we don't want trouble in our area," said Khan Marjan Wazir, a village leader.
Numerous violations hurt Zimbabwe elections
The Associated Presse
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Independent observers and human rights groups yesterday condemned Zimbabwe's presidential election as deeply flawed and demanded the release more than 1,000 polling agents and observers they charge were arrested during the balloting.
The criticism came as initial returns yesterday night gave President Robert Mugabe a 52 percent to 46 percent lead over Morgan Tsvangirai, with about 18 percent of districts reporting.
The three days of voting in a
outerly contested election was considered a crucial test for democracy in this southern African nation. Mugabe — the only leader Zimbabwe has known in 22 years of independence — faced his first real challenge in Tsvangirai, a former labor organizer.
But independent observers questioned the validity of the vote, saying it was tainted by violence, intimidation, confusion and the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters in the opposition stronghold of Harare.
"The presidential elections failed to meet key, broadly
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accepted criteria for elections," said Kare Vollan, head of the 25-member Norwegian Observer
mission.
He said the mission, the largest European delegation, found flaws with every step of the electoral process from voter registration and campaigning to the actual vote.
Several groups said more than 1,000 people had been arrested in connection with the election.
Amnesty International said 1,400 opposition polling agents and independent election observers had been detained but added other people had been arrested for allegedly trying to vote a second time.
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