Investigating Report Al Qaeda Killed U.S. Sailor

March 6, 2002 -- As the Pentagon sends more troops and helicopters into Afghanistan, officials are hoping to clear up conflicting reports of how a U.S. Navy SEAL died in some of the fiercest, deadliest fighting of the five-month war.

The Pentagon would not confirm a news report that said Petty Officer 1st class Neil Roberts, 32, of Woodland, Calif., died after he fell from a helicopter fleeing enemy fire in the Afghan mountains and was executed by al Qaeda fighters.

The Associated Press account, written by a reporter accompanying U.S. troops into battle, said U.S. military officials watched the incident on real-time surveillance pictures from an unmanned spy plane.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon today that they had not seen the surveillance tape and had received conflicting accounts of what led to the sailor's death.

"I have talked to three maybe four people who were either present or have reviewed the result of this and it would probably not surprise you that each of the three or four has a different view of what happened," Franks said.

What is officially known about Roberts' death, Rumsfeld said, is that the sailor was riding in a helicopter that took fire from the ground. At some point, Roberts fell out of the helicopter, but it is unclear, Rumsfeld said, whether he was shot before or after he fell to the ground.

"At some point, people will merge all of those different perspectives and views and something will come out of it that will be fairly definitive," Rumsfeld said.

Earlier, The AP report had been confirmed to other journalists by Maj. Gen. Frank Hagenbeck in Afghanistan. "We saw him on the Predator [surveillance plane] being dragged off by three al Qaeda men," he said.

When the GI's body was recovered later, he was found to have died from bullet wounds, in what appeared to have been an execution, military officials said.

U.S. Bolsters 'Anaconda' Forces

As the fierce fighting that claimed Roberts' life continues in the five-day mountain offensive known as "Operation Anaconda," the U.S. military is rushing in reinforcements for its more than 2,000-strong multinational force.

The fighting is centered on a cave complex southeast of Kabul, in a 60-square-mile area known as Shah-e-Kot. Operation Anaconda was originally expected to last no more than 72 hours.

So far, eight U.S. troops have lost their lives during Operation Anaconda, and Franks warned the danger for U.S. forces was not over yet. "I think the days ahead are going to continue to be dangerous days for our forces," he said. "But the alternative to taking such a risk is not acceptable."

The U.S. military is sending an additional 200 to 300 troops for the mountain operation, making the total number of U.S. troops involved now 1,100. Additional Marine helicopters have also been added, Franks said.

The mountain battle has been a costly one for the U. S. military, having grounded four out of 10 Apache helicopters used in the battle due to damage. Nearly every helicopter that has returned to base within the last 48 hours has bullet holes, military sources told ABCNEWS. Five Marine Corps Cobra gunships have been rushed to the fight, the sources said.

Rumsfeld said he was not surprised at finding this determined pocket of fighters in the mountains and that the U.S.-led coalition was "up to the challenge" of defeating them. "The forces we face represent very hardened elements of al Qaeda and Taliban, true dead-enders," he said. "We expect that they will — we expected that they would put up a fierce fight, and they have and theyare and they continue to do so."

The U.S.-led troops laying seige to the mountain stronghold southeast of Kabul have continued to make gains in the fierce fighting, and military officials now say the coalition forces are in a "dominant" position.

"We've got confirmed kills in the hundreds," Hagenbeck said at a news conference today at the Bagram air base, north of Kabul. "We truly have the momentum at this point."

It is estimated 600 to 700 al Qaeda fighters were hiding in the snow-covered mountains of Paktia province when the assault began Friday evening, but the U.S. military believes there are considerably fewer who have survived the days of fighting.

"Conservatively speaking right now, I'm convinced from the evidence I've seen that we've killed at least half of those enemy forces," Hagenbeck said.

Five Soldiers Killed in Kabul Accident

Along with the eight Americans killed, more than 40 have been wounded in Operation Anaconda. About half of those wounded have returned to duty, Franks said.

In non-battle related casualties, five soldiers, two Germans and three Danes, who are part of the international security force, were killed while trying to defuse anti-aircraft missiles at a munitions site in Kabul, German defense officials said today.

Three U.S. troops fell ill due to altitude sickness, Franks said. Operation Anaconda is taking place in some cases at altitudes of 10,000 feet.

On Monday, seven U.S. soldiers were killed — including Roberts — in two incidents involving MH-47 Chinook helicopters. Their bodies arrived this morning at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Several Afghan fighters assisting U.S. troops have also been killed in the battle.Opposing forces are mostly non-Afghan al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, possibly including Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Pakistanis, officials have said.

Al Qaeda Regrouping in Pakistan?

In other developments:

A trail of e-mails and Internet Web sites indicates that al Qaeda followers have been trying to regroup in the mountains of western Pakistan, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. government officials. The officials told the newspaper that issue was a serious concern because it indicated al Qaeda had a high level of computer sophistication and could use that ability to launch new terror attacks on the United States.

U.S. intelligence has uncovered terrorist plots to conduct car bombings in Kabul aimed at Western targets and members of the interim Afghan government of Hamid Karzai, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press. Terrorist cells linked to al Qaeda were to carry out the car bombings, the official told the news agency.

More journalists could be targeted by al Qaeda and Taliban supporters angered by the U.S.-led assault in the Paktia province, international peacekeepers in Afghanistan told Reuters. The peacekeepers said they have received what they called "a serious threat about the kidnap of a journalist in retaliation for the operation." Eight journalists have been killed covering the war in Afghanistan.

ABCNEWS' John McWethy and Brian Hartman in Washington contributed to this report.