Al-Qaida may be back in cleared area

BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN - British troops have found indications that Taliban and al-Qaida fighters may be sneaking back into the area they fled last month during the U.S.-led Operation Anaconda. <br> <br> Eight American troopers were killed during the operation, which was aimed at clearing al-Qaida and Taliban forces from the Shah-e-Kot valley of Paktia province in southeastern Afghanistan. <br> <br> U.S. officials estimated that hundreds of enemy fighters were killed during the operation, mostly by intense U.S. airstrikes. However, only a few dozen bodies were found. Pro-U.S. Afghan commanders said most of the force fled toward the Pakistani border to regroup and return later. <br> <br> British Royal Marines were sent into the area last week. At a news conference Thursday, their commander, Brig. Roger Lane, said they found ``there was evidence to suggest some terrorist facilities remained undiscovered and that (al-Qaida) forces had re-infiltrated.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Lane refused to elaborate. <br> <br> Soon after Operation Anaconda ended, Afghan commanders allied with coalition forces predicted that the enemy would be back. The Afghans said those forces were skilled in techniques used effectively by Afghan resistance fighters against Soviet invaders in the 1980s. <br> <br> Faced with overwhelming Soviet firepower, Afghan forces would break up into small groups and slip away while Soviet planes, tanks and artillery pounded empty positions. <br> <br> Maj. Gen. Frank Hagenbeck, the U.S. commander of Anaconda, said soon after the operation that al-Qaida operatives were still in Paktia ``going to great lengths to try to regroup or regenerate.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> During the news conference Thursday, Lane said the Royal Marines found undiscovered ``terrorist facilities&#39;&#39; - or cave complexes, including one which contained 20,000 rounds of large-caliber ammunition usually used to shoot down planes. They also found documents, but he did not release details. <br> <br> The operation was the Royal Marines&#39; first major large-scale combat mission in Afghanistan. About 400 mostly British troops - as well as much smaller numbers of U.S. and Afghan forces - swept a rugged area of high desert and 10,000-foot-high mountains that was a former al-Qaida and Taliban base and a key resupply route for their fighters. <br> <br> Lane would not comment directly on where he felt the bulk of the remaining al-Qaida and Taliban force was deployed. U.S. soldiers who recently returned from a mission in eastern Afghanistan said local Afghans told them hundreds of al-Qaida fighters were just across the border, hiding in Pakistan. <br> <br> Because of significant support for al-Qaida in pockets of Pakistan, it would be politically explosive for allied soldiers to operate there - at least openly. <br> <br> Asked if the reason allied troops weren&#39;t finding many al-Qaida or Taliban soldiers was because they were simply hiding in Pakistan, Lane said ``that&#39;s always a consideration.&#39;&#39; However, he said he only had permission to operate in Afghanistan ``and that&#39;s where I shall operate.&#39;&#39;