Marines find major weapons cache

Terrain in Afghanistan is "tough and arduous"

British forces operating in Afghanistan say they have found four caves containing "substantial amounts" of weapons and ammunition, believed to belong to al-Qaeda fighters.

Royal Marines found the sealed caves while hunting for remaining al-Qaeda and Taleban outposts in the mountains of south-east Afghanistan.

One cave alone held enough ammunition to fill 30 trucks.

It is a significant find of weapons which could have caused serious damage

Lt Col Ben Curry

Each cave was secured by a metal door and the British commander in the country, Brigadier Roger Lane, said one appeared to have been abandoned only recently.

He also defended his troops' mission in Afghanistan, after criticism that no al-Qaeda fighters had been found.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme he said the marines had searched in the most "demanding and arduous terrain" in their 440-year history, he said.

"At present we have four caves which appear to have a substantial amount of ammunition in each of them.

'Scaling down'

"One of them has ammunition left outside the door, which suggests someone has left in a hurry and it is significant quantities."

Lt Col Ben Curry, spokesman for the British armed forces in Afghanistan, said the "enormous find" included "some 107mm rockets, an amount of anti-aircraft artillery, and some large-calibre Russian machine guns and ammunition".

Brig Lane: War "almost won"

The first cave to be explored is around 120 feet deep and seven feet high, packed floor-to-ceiling with mortars, rockets, shells and bullets.

The caves may be connected but they have yet to explore the other three because they are still checking for booby traps.

The marines have been involved in a military operation in the mountainous region in the east of the country for the past 10 days, but have so far met with no resistance from any Taleban or al-Qaeda fighters.

Brigadier Lane said the operation would be scaling down, but insisted the mission had been worthwhile.

"We have not yet actually found any individual as yet. We have found a large logistic infrastructure site," he said.

Our ground forces got involved, but it then turns out there was nobody there

Jeremy Corbyn, MP

"I think the operation has been successful in denying them a safe haven."

He said his troops would still be working to ensure al-Qaeda and Taleban forces had no "sanctuary" in Afghanistan.

Under headlines of "Phoney War" and "Call This Victory?", Thursday's Daily Mirror says the Marines' mission has been mocked.

It reports how the troops, over 1,500 of them, will be pulling out without any success in finding al-Qaeda or Taleban forces - despite intelligence tracking.

Left-wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn is among those who have criticised the marines' involvement.

He said: "It (the operation) does not appear to have done anything, apart from this latest find.

"I think the Americans panicked and got our ground forces involved, but it then turns out there was nobody there."