US troops storm Afghan caves

ACTING on new intelligence from radio intercepts, nearly 1,000 US soldiers stormed into mountainside caves and villages in southern Afghanistan yesterday in an intense search for Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives, US military spokesmen said.

The operation, named "Valiant Strike", focused on the mountainous area where Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was rumoured to have fled after the fall of Kandahar in 2001.

Operations began minutes after US forces delivered the first attack on Baghdad.