Major fighting in Operation Anaconda over

The major fighting is over in the week-long operation to clear al-Qaida and Taliban forces from eastern Afghanistan, the US Army confirms.

However, the Army said the operation was not over and would continue until the last of the enemy holdouts have been eliminated.

Major Bryan Hilferty, spokesman of the 10th Mountain Division, says US troops had not received sustained and accurate fire from al-Qaida in the past few days.

"But this battle is not over," Major Hilferty said. "If I were an al-Qaida guy, I wouldn't go out for a pizza. Operation Anaconda is not over."

Afghan fighters said the enemy force had taken refuge in two caves and was running out of ammunition. However, al-Qaida had ringed the area with land mines and heavy clouds and snow had made low-level, pinpoint bombing difficult.

Troops said they had not expected to find as many Taliban and al-Qaida forces waiting for them when they moved into the mountains of Paktia province on March 2.

The troops also said they did not expect to be in the field so long.

Some spoke of temperatures well below freezing at night. There were cases of hypothermia and drinking water becoming frozen.

However, they said the air support was extraordinary and that there wasn't a half hour during the operation when bombs weren't falling.