American military-led coalition forces and Afghan militiamen are reported to have launched a new operation to root out al Qaeda fighters in south eastern Afghanistan.
A US military spokesman said that the aim of the operation was to find, capture or kill any remaining al Qaeda fighters and their supporters in the area.
Three people are reported to have been detained so far. Several small weapons caches have been found as well.
Thousands of US and coalition troops are still based in Afghanistan in a campaign to track down the remnants of the former ruling Taliban and the al Qaeda network, blamed for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.
Afghanistan's defence minister said yesterday that the operation had been launched against suspected bases of the Taliban and al Qaeda around the southeastern city of Khost.
Mohammad Fahim said he believed former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was still alive and that al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, was "probably" alive too.
