Wednesday October 10 8:18 AM ET

U.S. Plans Helicopter Raids in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to use troop-carrying and Army attack helicopters in Afghanistan (news - web sites) to hunt down guerrillas allied with Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday.

But the officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that such low-flying strikes were not imminent while American attack jets continued round-the-clock ''seek-and-destroy'' missions in the skies over Afghanistan.

``I would caution you against expecting any such (helicopter) move soon,'' said one of the officials, responding to questions about the plan, first reported on Wednesday by the New York Times.

Officials said UH-60 Blackhawk and other helicopters, including those designed for elite Special Operations troops, could be used with possible protection from AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Low-flying helicopters could be vulnerable to fire from Taliban military forces and guerrillas aligned with bin Laden, accused by the United States of masterminding Sept. 11 attacks on America.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001