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| Sunday, 24 March 2002 |
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US
troops found Afghan biological weapons lab
LONDON, Saturday (Reuters) U.S. troops battling remnants of the al Qaeda network in southeast Afghanistan uncovered a biological weapons laboratory during recent mountain operations, a British government source said on Friday. But a U.S. defence official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters in Washington that he was not aware of any discovery of a biological arms laboratory in "Operation Anaconda". Although U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said there is ample evidence that al Qaeda wants weapons of mass destruction, U.S. defense officials said earlier this week that no evidence of any biological arms had been found to date in about 60 al Qaeda and Taliban compounds and other sites searched by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But the British source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the evidence of biological weapons was a major factor behind Britain's sudden decision this week to send up to 1,700 elite mountain troops to reinforce the U.S.-led coalition waging the "war on terror". "They found a biological weapons laboratory during Operation Anaconda," he said, giving no further details. "One of the reasons for sending the marines out was to keep them (al Qaeda) on the run," he added. "It made the need for troops more urgent." British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday he was rushing the troops to Afghanistan in the biggest British combat deployment since the 1991 Gulf War. Hoon gave few details of their mission but said they were going to mop up the remnants of the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters and would stay in Afghanistan until "the job was done". The British government source said the al Qaeda network appeared "quite well advanced in biological weapons and chemical weapons technology". He said he was frankly amazed there had been no major incidents since the September 11 kamikaze attacks in New York and Washington, which gave even greater urgency to the operations against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. The U.S. troops were surprised at the strength of the opposition and the sophistication of the weaponry they encountered in the high altitude operation against the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters holed up in caves in the mountains. Eight U.S troops were killed in the operation earlier this month in the mountains south east of the Afghan capital Kabul. The United States, which has poured thousands of troops into Afghanistan, said on Monday Operation Anaconda -- the biggest battle of the war to date -- was winding down. Following the apparent success of the Afghan operations, the United States has turned its political sights increasingly on Iraq which, along with North Korea and Iran, it accuses of making weapons of mass destruction and spawning terror. |
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