Special forces begin ground operations

U.S. special forces have begun operations on the ground in Afghanistan, officials confirmed today, opening a significant and dangerous new phase of the assault against the Taliban and terrorists, the Associated Press reported.

Members of the secretive forces were supporting efforts by the intelligence community to undermine the Taliban regime in southern Afghanistan, said a U.S. official.

A Pakistani official said that country was told that special forces were dropped into Taliban territory Thursday. The source said U.S. forces have also been in anti-Taliban northern alliance territory of Afghanistan for more than one week.

U.S. warplanes eased their bombardment after dawn today, Islam's holy day.

In Pakistan, a Taliban official said his side had nothing to fear from U.S. commandos.

"Fifteen or 20 troops will be able to do nothing," embassy spokesman Sohail Shaheen said. "If they want to send in soldiers, they should send in 100,000. Then it can be a fight between our soldiers and theirs."

President Bush refused to confirm the presence of U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan but said, "We will use whatever means are necessary to achieve our objective."