Weapons cache found in eastern Afghanistan

US Marines have discovered an enemy weapons cache in the Shah-e-Kot valley. A US military spokesman would not say whether any enemy fighters were at the site when it was attacked, or if anyone was killed.

Marine Captain Steven O'Connor says US surveillance teams are still in the eastern Shah-e-Kot valley area, despite the end of Operation Anaconda.

"In the Shah-e-Kot valley last night, some of our AH-1W Cobra gunships attacked and destroyed an ammunition cache," said Capt O'Connor, from the Bagram air base north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. Operation Anaconda was launched on March 2 to clear the valley of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

General Tommy Franks declared the operation over this week and deemed it a success, although Afghan commanders said most of the al-Qaida and Taliban fighters escaped.

Capt O'Connor also said there was no activity overnight in Khost, a volatile eastern Afghan town where gunmen attacked US and Afghan troops on Tuesday.

The attack touched off a firefight that wounded one American soldier. Tensions have been running high for months in Khost, about 40 miles east of Shah-e-Kot. Capt O'Connor refused to speculate on whether the attackers who shot at U.S. troops were al-Qaida or Taliban fighters.

"I would imagine since they were shooting at us that they were probably bad guys," he said. US military officials have said the war in Afghanistan will continue as long as al-Qaida and Taliban forces remain active in the country.