Afghan fighters tentatively search hastily abandoned al-Qaida caves

By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer

TORA BORA, Afghanistan – Ammunition lay scattered on the ground, posters of Palestinian militants adorned some of the walls. The caves abandoned by Osama bin Laden's forces attracted anti-Taliban fighters curious about what their enemies left behind – but also mindful of the nasty surprises, like booby traps.

When they moved Tuesday into caves and bunkers scattered about one of Enzeri Zur mountain's twin peaks the anti-Taliban fighters were ecstatic but cautious.

They ventured into the cave mouths as far as daylight carried, shouting for anyone still inside to surrender. There was no reply.

Most of the caves were small, extending maybe 30 to 40 feet into the mountainside, with some entrances as large as a door and others just big enough to crawl through.

A bloody white cloth, syringe and bag of intravenous fluids indicated one cave – at an altitude of 10,000 feet – had housed wounded fighters. Arabic-English and Arabic-Chinese textbooks lay in another cave.

There were no signs of bedding or cooking utensils, suggesting the fighters lived elsewhere – perhaps in other, deeper caves.

Eastern alliance forces launched a three-pronged assault against al-Qaida defenders on Monday after days of U.S. bombing, including 15,000-pound "daisy cutter" bombs.

It was not clear if the caves seized on Enzeri Zur were at the heart of Tora Bora's network of caves and tunnels – a complex bin Laden adopted as al-Qaida's main stronghold in Afghanistan. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tuesday there were "literally thousands" of caves in the area.

It was also not known if more al-Qaida fighters were holed up in the mountains.

But by Tuesday morning, the assault had transformed the landscape into a scene of devastation.

One hilltop overlooking the battlefield had been flattened. Trees were reduced to ashes and the ground was littered with shrapnel and bits of cluster bombs. Stone buildings and bomb shelters were destroyed.

A snipers' nest on top of a ridge contained three dead al-Qaida fighters, their bodies shredded by heavy machine gun fire. Outside an al-Qaida gun training center, paper targets from the National Rifle Association littered the ground complete with names and scores written in Arabic.

With temperatures hovering just above freezing, the fighters from the tribal eastern alliance used guerrilla tactics to climb the mountain's 60-degree incline, sending up one group of men to lure out the al-Qaida forces, then calling in U.S. airstrikes or sending in a second squad to attack. Dusty brown rocks and clumps of scraggly trees provided cover from machine guns and snipers.

The al-Qaida forces retreated under fire, leaving behind at least seven dead, as alliance fighters drove them into a canyon.

From the canyon came a call by two-way radio: An unspecified number of fighters, reportedly all young men, wanted to talk about conditions for a surrender. The alliance held their fire and gave their opponents until 8 a.m. Wednesday to surrender and walk out.

As night fell and temperatures plunged, uncertainty set in. Were there trails leading out of the canyon? Would the al-Qaida fighters try to escape or would they fight?

In the meantime, at least one American AC-130 gunship began pounding the mountain with howitzers and gatling guns, trying to ferret out holdouts.

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