US special operations soldiers are working alongside anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday.
They are coordinating US military support but not directing the land battle, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace said at a press briefing at Pentagon.
Pace said that small groups of US special forces are mainly there to identify targets for US airstrikes and to act as liaison with opposition forces.
"Their purpose in being there is to be able to coordinate US support to the (opposition) units on the ground, not to be giving guidance or direction to their commanders on the ground," he said.
"If the commanders on the ground were to ask for their opinion, they would certainly give it to them," he added.
Pace said that the northern alliance of opposition forces are making progress against Taliban forces in the vicinity of Mazar-e-Sharif, a key crossroads held by the Taliban, but he could not be more specific.
On Wednesday, opposition officials in northern Afghanistan said they had seized a district near Mazar-e-Sharif from Taliban forces and were closing in on the city.
(Xinhua News Agency November 7,2001)
