Three years have elapsed since the historic 9/11 terror attack on the United States, but the whereabouts of the alleged masterminds of the attack Osama bin Laden and his Afghan host -- the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar has been haunting many as an enduring puzzle.

At the very first day of the Doomsday-like attack which claimed over 3,000 lives, a terrified US President George W. Bush promised his nation as well as the whole world to bring to justice Osama and his one-eyed host Mullah Omar for the crime.

The angry leader of the uni-polar world's superpower in his attempts to catch the "big fish" announced 50 million US dollars head prize for each of the fugitives beside launching a heavy military campaign that ousted their regime in late 2001.

The Taliban's fundamentalist hierarchy has gone; the US-dominated coalition troops and NATO-led multinational forces have been deployed in the post-Taliban nation to root out terrorists besides ensuring security here.

For several times over the past nearly three years, the mighty US army claimed cornering Osama in tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan but failed to deliver.

The inability of the US army and the consecutive failures of its advanced high-tech reconnaissance facilities to pinpoint the king of terror and his host created questions in the inquisitive mind of many across the world.

"How is it possible to oust a regime, consolidate your control but fail to nab its runners," questioned Afghan educationalist Noorul Haq Khan.

The US-led 20,000-strong force has been combing frequently the rugged border areas near Pakistan for the last nearly three years to find Osama and Mullah Omar but all ended in vain.

On the other hand, Pakistan, the frontline ally of United States in the ongoing war on terror has been busy in an unabated clean up operation against the suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda in the Pashtun-belt tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

Hundreds of terrorists including many foreigners have been killed or arrested in Pakistani army operations since early 2002 particularly in south Wazirustan agency.

Pakistan has also handed over to America several hundreds of suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists including some noted figures.

"Both Osama and Mullah Omar either are a drama or living somewhere in connivance with the US military," maintained the observer.

Around 800 civilians, Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives, supporters of former Prime Minister and renegade commander Gulbudin Hekmatyar, US troops, Afghan soldiers and aid workers have been killed in increasing insurgency since late last year.

"The situation will be deteriorated if the government fails to check the increasing militancy in southern Afghanistan," maintained retired Brigadier Jahangir Khan.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in erroneous bombardment by US army in its hunt down operation against Mullah Omar and his guest Osama over the past nearly three years.

In one of the worst attacks on a wedding party to eliminate the fugitive leader of Taliban in his hometown Uruzgan province in 2002, 48 civilians including women and children were killed while another seven lost their lives in a similar attack in eastern Kunar province some two weeks ago.

Ayman-Al-Zawahiry, second-in-command of al-Qaeda network in a videotape aired by an Arabic television channel this week termed the US as a trapped one in the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan and warned of more violence against its troops in both countries.

"Osama is losing support, the Taliban is losing support. They are losing the fight here for population," US military spokesman in Afghanistan Major Scott Nelson said Saturday.

"The population and Pakistan and Afghanistan are stronger enough and remain aggressive," Nelson told a questioner about the possible arrest of al-Qaeda and Taliban's leaders.

However, he downplayed Taliban and al-Qaeda's threat saying that the "Taliban and al-Qaeda are no longer significant security threat to Afghanistan."

In the meantime, the Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Osama as well as Hekmatyar vowed to continue Jihad or holy war until the US-led foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua