British uncover big weapons cache

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- British marines broke into a suspicious village compound and chanced upon one of the largest weapons caches uncovered in southeastern Afghanistan -- rooms stacked high with hundreds of mortars, rockets and heavy weapons.

The marines said Sunday that the arsenal they found stashed in the village of Surwipan near the Pakistani border may have been left by al-Qaida and Taliban fighters. More than 10 men were found in the compound, and some were held by the troops.

"We were taken aback by the amount of stuff here," Sgt. Buck Ryan said. "In the last room, there was a curtain. When I pulled it back, it was like, 'Oh my God.' It was stacked up to the roof with weapons and ammunition."

In the compound, nicknamed "the Alamo" by the marines, troops hauled box after box of arms out of five or six rooms with stone-arch doorways and piled them in the dirt courtyard, where chickens ran freely. In one room, a bomb expert peered with a light into stacks of rockets, looking for booby traps.

The marines said it was one of the largest caches they have found after weeks of searching the area around the town of Khost, near the Pakistani border. Few al-Qaida or Taliban fighters have been found in the region -- they are believed to be hiding or to have fled into Pakistan.

The surprise find came Saturday morning when a patrol of marines from Zulu Company of Britain's 45 Commando Group on a nearby hill spotted a large antenna array on top of the compound.

Their suspicions raised, they moved in. A man was peeking out the door of the compound, smiling, but when he saw the marines, he ducked inside and slammed the door. The marines heard men running around inside and shouting, Ryan said.

The troops smashed through the compound's stone wall. The men inside, some wearing military fatigues, surrendered without a fight, though several Kalashnikov assault rifles were found nearby, ready to fire, Ryan said. The men destroyed two radios before the marines could get in.

Eight of the Afghans were brought to the military interrogation center in Bagram, officials said. A family of about a dozen people was also found in the compound and told to leave. While the site was being secured, a number of white vans were seen driving from the far side of the village, but the marines were unable to stop them.