Special Forces

A longtime Green Beret who attended high school in Maryland died in an ambush Saturday in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said yesterday. Chief Warrant Officer Bruce E. Price was fatally wounded when his vehicle was attacked by insurgents using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, officials at the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina announced. He was 37 and had lived in Fayetteville, N.C. The often-decorated soldier leaves a wife, Renate, and an 8-year-old son, Aidan.

WASHINGTON - U.S. commando units have already begun operations inside Afghanistan as the U.S. military prepares to retaliate for the terrorist attacks on the United States, according to news reports yesterday. President Bush declared at the White House that "we're in hot pursuit" of terrorists being harbored in Afghanistan, and he warned again that there would be "no negotiations" with that nation's ruling Taliban regime. An administration official said Bush was not confirming reports that elite U.S. special forces had already been deployed in Afghanistan, in advance of military action.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton secretly approved a CIA operation in the republic of Georgia, where a U.S. aide was killed Sunday. The clandestine U.S. program was designed to support vTC an embattled Eduard Shevardnadze's civil war struggle in the former Soviet state, according to administration sources.The operation, including the deployment in Georgia of U.S. Army Special Forces as security advisers this spring, was confirmed in the aftermath of the assassination of an American described as a U.S. Embassy officer from Moscow detached to Mr. Shevardnadze June 3.Killed by a single shot was Fred Woodruff, 45, of Herndon, Va., who had been scheduled to return home in a few days, U.S. officials said.

WASHINGTON -- Ross Perot may not want to be "separated from the people," as he's said in recent interviews when asked about Secret Service protection.But make no mistake, the Texas billionaire doesn't want to be ruffled by them either.Disturb the peace in the lobby of his Dallas business headquarters, and you could encounter not a scowling Kelly Girl, but the fiercest, sharpest, hungriest fighting man the U.S. military turns out.You could encounter the Delta Force.Mr. Perot will not discuss security matters, a spokesman for the expected presidential contender said.

KANDAHAR AIR BASE, Afghanistan - U.S. Special Forces attacked a Taliban headquarters north of Kandahar early yesterday, killing at least 14 Afghan fighters and capturing more than two dozen, in the largest clash involving American ground troops in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. One American soldier was shot in the ankle in the pre-dawn firefight with Taliban forces about 60 miles from Kandahar, the former political and spiritual capital of the militant Islamic militia. The simultaneous strikes against two Taliban leadership compounds less than 10 miles apart shortly after midnight suggested that U.S. forces hoped to use the element of surprise to seize top militia leaders as well as their computer hard drives and phone books, which have proved valuable in tracking down other terrorist cells.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - After hours of fighting yesterday, Afghan troops directed by U.S. Special Forces killed six al-Qaida fighters who had been barricaded inside a hospital for seven weeks and pledged not to surrender. The assault against the six men armed with pistols, hand grenades and at least one AK-47 assault rifle ended a long standoff that had caused concern among hospital staff and Special Forces based at a nearby airstrip. U.S. and Afghan troops were surrounding the city's Mir Wais Hospital about 3:40 a.m. when forces of Gul Agha Sharzai, governor of Kandahar province, demanded that the fighters give themselves up and blew open a door.

Countries that have offered or are considering assistance to a U.S.-led coalition. Britain: Has deployed 42,000 troops to the gulf region. Contingent also includes Royal Marines, 100 fixed-wing aircraft and 27 helicopters. Australia: Has deployed about 2,000 military personnel, including special forces, and F-18 attack aircraft, cargo planes and helicopters. Denmark: Offered to send the submarine Saelen and special forces if the Security Council supports military action. Italy: Opened airspace and bases to U.S. military.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. Army special operations helicopter carrying 10 Americans on a routine supply operation crashed into the waters off the Philippines yesterday, officials said. U.S. and Philippine military forces found no survivors in the early hours after the crash. But early this morning, radio and television stations in the Philippines said that fishermen had rescued three crew members. The U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii could not confirm that. U.S. military officials are bracing for what could be one of the single largest U.S. death tolls since the war on terrorism began with a bombardment in Afghanistan on Oct. 7. Navy Lt. Cmdr.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - In a sandy clearing in the pine woods, Special Forces soldiers and civilians are struggling with the riddle of Afghanistan. Why is the United States, seven years after it invaded and threw out the Taliban, still falling short in the war? From their varied backgrounds - infantryman, farming expert, foreign aid officer - they work under U.S. Army doctrine: You can't beat insurgents with military force. For years, everyone from politicians to generals have advocated "more troops," and the Pentagon is deploying about 4,000 additional soldiers and Marines during the next two months.

WASHINGTON - Out of sight of television cameras, some of the heaviest and most prolonged fighting in Iraq has been raging for nearly three weeks near the town of Qaim on the Syrian border. There, British commandos and U.S. Special Forces have been attacking units of Iraq's Special Republican Guards and Special Security Services, according to senior military and defense officials. The Iraqi forces in the area, along the Euphrates River, have been defending a large compound that includes phosphate fertilizer and water treatment plants.