'Bomb plotters' arrested in Kabul

There have been attacks on international targets

US and Afghan forces have arrested three men in Kabul said to be plotting bomb attacks there.

A US military spokesman said the men, detained in an overnight raid in the capital, had explosives and bomb-making equipment.

In south-eastern Afghanistan, US forces are continuing a major operation against rebel fighters believed to members of the Taleban.

There are fears that a US-led attack on Iraq could prompt opponents of international troops in Afghanistan to launch an offensive against foreign forces stationed there.

Foreign targets

US military spokesman Colonel Roger King says it is not clear whether the three men arrested in Kabul belonged to any particular rebel group.

But their intention was clear.

Warlord Hekmatyar - linked to rebel fighters

"They were trying to blow up a US or coalition facility in Kabul with a bomb," Colonel King said.

The arrests were carried out by Afghan intelligence agents along with US marines and special forces troops stationed at the US embassy, he said.

There have been a number of attacks on international groups in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, US special forces detained two men near the eastern town of Jalalabad. They were found with bomb-making materials.

In December, two US soldiers and their translator were injured when a hand grenade was thrown at their vehicle as they drove through Kabul.

Earlier this week the United Nations refugee agency suspended aid work in parts of eastern Afghanistan after two of its security staff guarding a convoy were killed.

Military base?

Meanwhile, hundreds of US special forces are still scouring a network of mountain caves near the town of Spin Boldak, close to the Pakistan border.

As many as 18 rebel fighters are believed to have died in the fighting there which began on Monday.

Colonel King told reporters several caves had now been searched.

"It's a place where [rebels] have been operating.. It's a place which could have been used as a base."

The rebels "may have moved to other caves to escape us or may have moved off the mountain", he said.

Colonel King also said the US still believes the rebels are linked to the Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who has called for foreign forces to be driven out of Afghanistan.

The BBC's Rahimullah Yusufzai in Peshawar says the rebels are members of the Taleban, which has been gaining in confidence and regrouping recently.