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To: cons_Mark
I can't find ptd.net. Do you have a link?
8 posted on 12/20/2001 12:48:59 PM PST by kampeska
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To: kampeska
http://www.ptd.net You can click on the underlined World under news and then a choice of regions.
10 posted on 12/20/2001 1:10:19 PM PST by cons_Mark
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To: kampeska
Here's the story I'm referencing

Bin Laden fighters abandon Aladdin's cave of terrorism Thursday, 20-Dec-2001 8:06AM Story from AFP / Pierre Lhuillery Copyright 2001 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TORA BORA, AFGHANISTAN, 20-DEC-2001: A mujahideen tank maneuvers as the battlegrounds in Tora Bora mountain are covered with snow December 20, 2001. Guns fell silent as top anti-Taliban mujahideen leaders declared victory over Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda forces. [Photo by Romeo Gacad, copyright 2001 by AFP and ClariNet]

TORA BORA, Afghanistan, Dec 20 (AFP) - US military planes returned Thursday to the skies over Osama bin Laden's former hideout in eastern Afghanistan as military investigators went through the Aladdin's cave of terrorism below.

Ammunition, guns, surface-to-air missiles and other weapons have been found in the caves hurriedly abandoned by the followers of the suspected planner of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

For the third day in a row a B-52 bomber flew in circles over the Tora Bora mountain where the al-Qaeda leader had a network of caves and tunnels now being emptied by US Special Forces and Afghan militia.

At least one fighter-bomber and other observation planes were seen flying over the region on the lookout for the hundreds of fighters who fled two weeks of intense bombing raids.

Most of the mainly Arab and Chechen fighters were believed to have headed for the Pakistan border after the al-Qaeda bases became a target.

Local mujahedin fighters, working with US Special Forces, are going through the tunnels, which have been sealed off since the victory over al-Qaeda.

Commanders said about 200 bodies have been found. But donkeys have also been seen coming back down the slopes carrying equipment and documents found in the bin Laden lair.

Access to one of the hundreds of caves was through a one metre (three feet) wide drainage channel. Inside were thousands of white metal boxes packed with munitions.

The entrance was dug through rock and earth, leading to a cavern about four metres (12 feet) wide and two metres (six feet) high.

Stacked from floor to ceiling along the walls were thousands of metal boxes inscribed with Chinese characters containing munitions, including tonnes of 12.7 millimetre ammunition, mortars and missiles.

Another cave further along the slope -- between eight and 10 metres (26 and 33 feet) wide -- contained a similar array of arsenal.

Other openings are visible in the mountain side. Some of the underground shelters would have required major work to construct.

Even after two weeks of intense bombing raids by B-52s dropping bombs of up to 15,000 pounds, the weapons dumps remained intact.

But a training camp 100 metres (yards) away was completely destroyed by the bombs. A tank in the centre of the camp was left a mass of twisted metal.

Some unconfirmed witness accounts said that further up the mountains, there were giant caves which had their own electricity supply and air conditioning.

It will take days, maybe weeks, to find out the real story of the secret of the caves.

The mujahedin and US forces, seeking information on the whereabouts of bin Laden and his weapons capability, are doing their best to keep foreign journalists away from the hideouts.

But vehicles belonging to the US Special Forces and one commando were seen on a slope near the abandoned camp.

plh/tw/ben/am.
12 posted on 12/20/2001 1:20:14 PM PST by cons_Mark
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