Bombs may not reach fighters hunkered deep within caves at Tora Bora

By DAVID E. KALISH
Associated Press Writer

The al-Qaida hide-outs at Tora Bora are a vast complex of natural caves fortified by concrete and steel, making it tough for bombs to reach fighters hunkered deep within, an expert on Afghan caves said Tuesday.

While bombs could penetrate much of the solid rock, mostly granite and crystalline stones, they may not reach some inner bunkers, said Jack Shroder, a professor of geography and geology at the University of Nebraska, who led a project to map Afghanistan in the 1970s.

The bunkers were originally built by Afghans, with help by Americans fighting the Soviet Union, and more recently fortified by members of al-Qaida, Shroder said.

The caves also have numerous exits and entrances that could be camouflaged. "I bet there are a lot of those and we don't know where they are," he said. While the mountainous landscape has been partly deforested, it includes a mix of pine and oak trees and sagebrush.

Shroder said an effective way to drive out people hiding in the caves might be the use of gas to render occupants unconscious. "An airtight chamber would be a surprise to me," he said.

It was unclear how much of the extensive cave complex at Tora Bora had been captured and whether any al-Qaida personnel were still hiding within. But Shroder said he doesn't believe Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida leaders are hiding there because "it's too obvious." Instead, he thinks they have fled to Pakistan or are hiding in one of several more southern cave complexes just over the border from Pakistan.

Shroder said he has been asked by U.S. officials he is advising not to reveal more information on the southern cave complexes.

Shroder headed the National Atlas of Afghanistan project, a joint project of the United States and Afghanistan government that ended after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979.

He said he hasn't seen the caves but was basing his description on his general knowledge of Afghanistan's geography and photos recently sent to him by Afghans who wanted to help flush out bin Laden.

APNP-12-11-01 1413CST