Special Forces join assault on al Qaeda holdouts

File photo of Kandahar's Mir Weis hospital

By CNN Correspondent
Ben Wedeman

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Gunfire has been heard inside a Kandahar hospital, as U.S. Special Forces supported an Afghan forces assault on a hospital where heavily armed members of al Qaeda have been holed up for six weeks,

U.S. military sources said the fighting began shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time, with witnesses reporting several loud blasts in the area of Mir Weis hospital, on the western edge of the city, followed by bursts of automatic gunfire.

Gunfire was also heard inside the hospital wing where the al Qaeda fighters have been holed up.

At one point, a U.S. Special Forces soldier could be seen creeping along the outside of the building and Special Forces snipers were poised along a wall next to the hospital. An Afghan fighter was seen on a window ledge of the hospital.

AUDIO CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from Kandahar 1.0 MB / 1min. 40sec. WAV sound

Several hours after the assault began at about 8:20 a.m., small arms fire could again be heard in "the general direction" of the hospital, CNN's Ben Wedeman said.

There was also a muffled explosion, following a lull in the exchanges. Smoke was seen rising from the hospital roof.

All roads leading to the hospital were closed with barbed wire barricades. U.S. Special Forces and local Afghan troops were guarding the roads.

As many as six members of al Qaeda had barricaded themselves in a wing of the hospital in a tense standoff that began after the Taliban fled the city.

They threatened to blow themselves up if anyone tried to move in on them.