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Intense Fighting Rages in Tora Bora Two Americans Reported Injured as Special Forces Battle Taliban TORA BORA, Afghanistan –– Intense fighting between U.S. special forces and al Qaeda machine-gunners left two Americans slightly wounded Friday, a witness said.

The battle in which the two Americans were said to be hurt occurred near the Tora Bora complex. Twelve members of the U.S. special forces and dozens of tribal eastern alliance fighters were trying to take out an al Qaeda defensive position when they came under machine-gun fire, said an Afghan fighter who uses the single name of Khawri.

He said in an exchange of fire, two of the Americans were grazed by bullets – one in the shoulder, the other in the knee. Khawri said the wounded men were well enough to walk down the mountain. They were taken back to a schoolhouse in a nearby town where they have been staying for medical treatment, he said.

Eastern alliance defense chief Hazrat Ali also said his fighters had surrounded a large number of bin Laden's al Qaeda guerrillas on a mountain ridge in the Tora Bora area in eastern Afghanistan – near to the cave.

Ali did not say why he thought bin Laden might be inside the cave, one of several in a gorge where his tribesmen were fighting al Qaeda forces amid heavy U.S. aerial bombing.

The location of bin Laden – the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States – remains the focus of the fierce conflict near the Pakistan border. Some U.S. officials believe he might be hiding there under seige. However, others say he is more likely holed up in another part of Afghanistan or may have even left the country.

A $25 million U.S. bounty for the Saudi millionaire has heightened the hunt for him. There have been several unconfirmed sightings of bin Laden in the Tora Bora area in recent days.

Ali's description of the fighting could not be independently verified as journalists have been barred from that area.

Ali said his forces had encircled al Qaeda loyalists in a small depression on the ridge. A battle for that position was ongoing, he said, and there were many al Qaeda dead and wounded.

"They are surrounded and they cannot escape," he said.

Said Mohammed Pahalawn, a deputy of Mohammed Zaman, who commands another alliance faction, said the depression contained about 100 to 120 al Qaeda fighters who were under attack from the ground and air.

"We have seen the place," Pahalawn said of bin Laden's cave. "The U.S. is bombing the area, but the opening of the cave is safe from bombing. The bombs can't reach it."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has stressed that the United States is not sure where bin Laden is. He has said that although the Tora Bora area is a likely location, he might be elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Earlier Friday, several alliance commanders said al Qaeda forces were falling back and abandoning their heavy weaponry after days of intense fighting and devastating bombing.

U.S. fighter jets swooped low over the battlefield and pummeled mountains that separate the Tora Bora and Milawa valleys, where bin Laden's loyalists had operated from a base of caves and tunnels. B-52s bombed from high above.

Alliance forces said four of their fighters were injured when a bomb exploded too close to their front line.

Tribal commander Haji Musa said some enemy troops were headed for a forest behind the two valleys. From there, they might try to escape along narrow trails that weave south through the towering White Mountain range and into Pakistan.

Pakistani's military has posted thousands of troops to stop al Qaeda troops from crossing the border but says the rugged and snowy terrain makes that difficult.

In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair still has not announced that Britain, as expected, will lead an international peacekeeping force. Countries expected to take part besides Britain are France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy and the Netherlands. Troops from Bangladesh and Jordan are expected to follow. Argentina this week also offered troops, diplomats said.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001