Hundreds of U.S. Marines are now in southern Afghanistan and are in the process of establishing a forward base of operations there, according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

At the Pentagon briefing November 26, Rumsfeld said the Marines are not an occupying force, but will establish a forward base to pressure Taliban forces and prevent them and al-Qaida forces from moving freely throughout the country. Asked why the forward base is being established in the Kandahar area, Rumsfeld responded that highways leading to all parts of the country as well as to neighboring countries intersect in that region, and the Taliban and al-Qaida forces can more easily be intercepted from there.

Also briefing journalists was General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said U.S. and coalition forces used about 110 aircraft November 25 in strikes against nine planned targets and several engagement zones. About 85 of the aircraft were sea-based, with about 10 being long-range bombers and another group of similar size being land-based tactical jets, he said. About 90 percent of the strikes were aimed at emergent targets in engagement zones, or were conducted by aircraft providing close air support for ground forces, Myers said.

In the fighting caused by the prisoner uprising in Mazar-i-Sharif, five U.S. servicemen were seriously injured by "friendly fire" when a bomb, which they had called for from close air support, fell too close to their position, Myers said. The men were medically evacuated to Uzbekistan, and soon will be transported to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

As to what lessons should be drawn from the prison uprising, Rumsfeld said, "I don't think anyone that I know needed to learn that the al-Qaida and the non-Afghan troops ... have been among the toughest of the fighters and the most determined and the least likely to surrender, and would have the least ability to meld into the countryside. And that's proven to be the case."

Concerning the situation around Kandahar, Myers characterized that city as the last bastion of Taliban resistance. "You get mixed reports on whether they're about ready to leave and give it up or not. ... [W]e think they're going to ... dig in and fight, and fight perhaps to the end. And that's the situation as we know it right now," he said.

Two C-17 transport aircraft delivered 19,000 humanitarian daily rations near Konduz and Herat November 25, bringing the total number of food packages air-dropped into the country to about 1.9 million, Myers said. The planes also brought in 40 containers of blankets and wheat. Psychological operations also took place, including Commando Solo radio broadcasting flights and leaflets that were airdropped in the areas of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar and Heart, Myers said.