US allies take cash to free Taliban

In spite of that, local AMF forces are suspected of aiding the enemy. "What's really frustrating is that you can't trust AMF to turn them over, because you don't know what side they're on," Jerry says. "Even my security officials are protecting Al Qaeda. How can I expect civilians to turn them in?"

Afghan President Hamid Karzai brushes aside suggestions that soldiers nominally under his command are ransoming fugitives. "It's not possible," he says. "My 6th Corps commander would never let that happen."

Karzai's 6th Corps commander in Konduz is General Daud Khan, who directed AMF forces against the Taliban in November, and has since presided over a stable and peaceful province. General Daud, too, dismisses the notion that his men are ransoming fugitives.

"I trust my men," he says. "We have some people in country who care about their country, and they won't think about the money. I am sure about my soldiers."

Still, Green Berets such as Jerry and Don insist that former Taliban soldiers are being ransomed and that the AMF is involved.

"All we can do is try to convince and influence our local counterparts to take ownership of the problem," Don says. "They think the Americans will leave – and yeah, eventually we will. So they're waiting us out, for sure, and playing for the cash in the short term."

In addition to stories of Al Qaeda operatives offering large sums for its soldiers, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group that has ties to both Al Qaeda and major opium smuggling operations in the north, is also said to pay big bucks to free its fighters.

On the other hand, Pakistani-born Taliban foot soldiers, many of them educated at religious schools, or madrassahs, just across the border, are not known to fetch high fees. According to Sergeant Steve, a Special Forces engineer, Pakistanis languish in Afghan prisons, hoping their families can scrounge together enough cash to get them out.

"It seems like everyone's got a Pakistani they're keeping locked up at home," says Steve. "I call it the Pakistani giveaway. They know no one's paying anything for Pakistanis, so to placate the Americans, sometimes they'll hand some over to us."

The mission to Daste Arche comes up empty-handed. In six months of operations in northern Afghanistan, Jerry's 12-man Special Forces A-Team has only captured six foreign-born militants.

"We keep hearing reports they're here," says Jerry. "Somalis, Chechens, Arabs – can't find them."

But a few days after the raid, a dependable informant visits the Special Forces' safe house in Konduz. The portly, bearded man, swathed in a white turban, confirms that the Americans had their man, but that the foreigners in his control moved just before dawn.

"They knew you were coming," he tells Don. "In these areas, if someone is Al Qaeda, they will be protected."

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