US troops sent to Afghan border

The US today confirmed reports that more than 1,000 troops have been sent to the Afghan border in the former Soviet state of Uzbekistan.

The Uzbek president also announced he had granted permission for US forces to use an air base in his country.

At a joint news conference with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in Tashkent, President Islam Karimov said the air base could be used by US transport planes, helicopters and troops for search-and-rescue missions.

The deployment of 1,000 plus soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division is the first time a regular army infantry unit has been sent on a mission to a former Soviet state, a US defence official said.

It also is the first major deployment of a regular Army unit - as opposed to elite Special Forces units - in the campaign against terrorism.

The White House admitted last week that British and American special forces are already operating inside Afghanistan

The unit being sent from the 10th Mountain Division, based in New York state, is a reinforced battalion of light infantry.

The new troops are expected to perform two basic missions in the Central Asian republics.

Primarily, they will provide ground security for air force fighter and combat search-and-rescue units.

In addition, they will form a Quick Reaction Force that will be on alert to go to the aid of any special forces units that get in trouble while conducting raids in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon plans to tell the Army that the mission will be open-ended, and that the 10th Mountain should expect to send another battalion in six months when the troops being deployed now are brought home, the official said.

That order underscores the Bush administration’s stated intent to make its war on counter-terrorism a sustained effort, not a short, quick effort to retaliate.

While the reinforced brigade from the 10th Mountain Division represents the first deployment of regular troops, the Marine amphibious ready group in the Persian Gulf has 2,200 troops afloat who can be sent into battle by sea or helicopter.