Marines to face guerrilla war as Taleban fighters change tactics

THE Royal Marines heading for Afghanistan face a protracted guerrilla war as al-Qaeda and Taleban forces begin to adopt classic, pro-active insurgency tactics, American and British defence sources said yesterday.
Vice-Admiral Thomas Wilson, director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, said that the return of warmer weather in Afghanistan would increase the likelihood of attacks on the US-led coalition forces.

US troops at Khost airfield were attacked early yesterday by al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters armed with rocketpropelled grenades, mortars and machineguns. The airfield is only 45 miles east of the Shah-i Kot valley in Paktia province, where a US-led force has just completed Operation Anaconda after 17 days of fighting. An American soldier was wounded in the arm and three Afghans were said to have been killed.