The US is moving a secret commando unit from Iraq to Afghanistan to step up the hunt for Osama bin Laden, it was reported in Washington today.
A Pentagon official told the Washington Timesnewspaper there were two reasons for repositioning parts of Task Force 121:
:: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed.
:: Second, intelligence reports are increasing on the whereabouts of bin Laden, the terror leader behind the September 11th attacks.
"Iraq has become more of a policing problem than a hunt for high-value Iraqis, the official said. Afghanistan is the place where 121 can do more."
Task Force 121 is a mix of army Delta Force soldiers and Navy SEALs based at Joint Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
There are also reports in Britain that SAS units have been deployed to Afghanistan.
Military sources told the Times that reports of al-Qaeda terror leader bin Laden's movements are becoming more numerous as the fugitive Saudi multi-millionaire, hides in the mountainous terrain straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Task Force 121 was part of the team that raided an Iraqi farm and found Saddam hidden in a hole.
Speculation that the United States is close to finding bin Laden heightened last month when military officers in Afghanistan predicted that the terror leader would be killed or captured by year's end.
PA