The U.S. has detected the distinctive voice of Osama bin Laden on hand-held radio in the mountains of Tora Bora giving orders to his al Qaeda troops, U.S. officials told the Washington Times. The officials say the voice has been positively matched to known recordings of bin Laden. This represents the best proof that the Saudi dissident has been, and remains, in the cave complexes in the Tora Bora region of the White Mountains in eastern Afghanistan.
The sources say the electronic monitoring is being carried out by Special Operations troops on the ground, and by spy planes and satellites. "They have picked him up on very short-range radio," said a senior U.S. official, adding that al Qaeda fighters have been detected responding to their leader.
On Friday, Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of the Afghanistan campaign, stated, "Obviously we use all sorts of technical means to gain insights into where he may be. We also listen to what these opposition leaders on the ground have to say, because they each have their own intelligence capability." (albawaba.com)
