Marines Seize Al-qaida Caves As Afghan Violence Escalates

Royal Marine commandos have seized an al-Qaida cave complex in Afghanistan in a covert mission to minimise risks for American troops, marking Britain's first overseas combat deployment since the Gulf war a decade ago.

A unit of 50 men infiltrated the Zawar valley on the border with Pakistan to secure a guerrilla heartland for a US infantry battalion, confirming predictions that British troops would be given high-risk tasks.

Al-Qaida evacuated the caves before the commandos arrived, but the lull in fighting was shattered by violence in other parts of Afghanistan yesterday.

A bomb in the eastern city of Jalalabad exploded near a convoy carrying the defence minister, General Mohammad Fahim, killing four bystanders and injuring 18 in what officials said was an assassination attempt. In Kabul, Afghan police discovered four rockets aimed at the British-led international peacekeeping force at the site where two rockets were fired on Sunday, narrowly missing a compound used by German and Dutch troops.

A sense of events moving beyond the authorities' control deepened when farmers in several provinces resisted attempts to eradicate their crops of opium poppies, leaving several dead in gun battles with government forces.

Despite the deteriorating security, British army officials declared the seizure of an al-Qaida desert base near the eastern city of Khost a model for the 1,700-strong British battle group which is expected to join the US ground campaign later this month.

A Guardian reporter and photographer were allowed to accompany Alpha Company, of 40 Commando Royal Marines, into caves which contained abandoned documents, weapons and human remains.

Landing in darkness in Chinook helicopters which flew from Bagram airbase, north of Kabul, the unit occupied three peaks with mortars and heavy machine guns and spent three days spying on camel trains traversing the border.

The 44 marines were reinforced by a six-man mortar team from the 1st Parachute Regiment in what was thought to be the first such joint operation since the Falklands.

The soldiers broke cover last week to explore the caves, some hundreds of feet deep, and make contact with locals before handing over the valley to 500 infantrymen from the US 101st airborne division. The Americans blew up the caves, which contained bedrooms, jails and warehouses, after collecting five binbags full of documents.

Sgt Neil Warrington said the Americans were astonished that so few Britons were used to control at least 20 square miles of enemy territory. "The Americans see safety in numbers," he said, "we see safety in small groups."

Privately, some Britons criticised the Americans for not deploying in the valley earlier in the year when there would have been a chance of catching some guerrillas. "The British public has a higher tolerance for casualties than the Americans, that's my understanding," said one.

Several also criticised US intelligence for not knowing whether al-Qaida occupied the valley and whether locals would be hostile. "They didn't have a clue so they sent us in to find out."

Major Justin Holt, the marines' company commander, said the mission confirmed fears that Islamist guerrillas had found sanctuary in Pakistan's tribal areas.

An American major said they had regrouped at Miram Shah, safe from allied attack and beyond the control of Pakistani troops. "Now we know they're there," said the US officer.

Yesterday's bomb attack in Jalalabad showed that groups hostile to the western-backed interim government are growing bolder in apparent attempts to disrupt preparations for June's loya jirga, or traditional assembly, to select a new government.

Intelligence sources said Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a hardline Islamist warlord, was probably responsible.