THE SAS has been on scouting missions with US special forces inside Afghanistan, it was reported today (Saturday).
US sources said elite troops of four or five-man teams had mounted "covert reconnaissance missions" but were not actively hunting Osama bin Laden - the man accused by the US of orchestrating the terror attacks on New York and Washington.
The disclosure came as the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution on measures to combat global terrorism.
The resolution, put forward by the US, was described as ''historic'' today by Home Secretary Jack Straw.
It obliges member states to outlaw the funding of terrorist groups, freeze their assets and prevent movement of those suspected to be linked to terror groups.
Every nation must also deny them ''safe haven'' and speed up the exchange of intelligence.
Earlier reports that Afghan security forces had seized American soldiers have now been denied by the Taliban, who also deny that any US or British special forces are operating in territory under its control.
"It is totally wrong, we deny this news that they have come to our areas," Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, the Taliban defence minister, told Reuters.
A prominent television network in the Middle East had reported that five people, including three Americans, had been arrested.
The Qatar-based al-Jazeera cable TV station reported that a military source from bin Laden's al Qaeda group said the troops were arrested on the Iranian border with modern weapons and some maps of al Qaeda sites.
"The five were arrested, three Americans and two Afghans, who were trained in the US Special Forces and have US citizenship. The three Americans are also from the US Special Forces," the correspondent said.
"They had some modern weapons and some maps of al Qaeda sites. They were on a reconnaissance mission to know the territory of al Qaeda".
The Taliban has refused to hand over bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in the Afghan mountainside, but says it has delivered an edict requesting he leave the country.
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