Al-Qaida may be returning according to reports

British troops have found indications that Taliban and al-Qaida fighters may be sneaking back into the area they fled last month during the US-led Operation Anaconda.

Eight US troops were killed during the operation, which was aimed at clearing al-Qaida and Taliban forces from the Shah-e-Kot valley of Paktia province in southeastern Afghanistan.

US officials estimated that hundreds of fighters were killed during the operation, mostly by intense US air strikes. But only a few dozen bodies were found. Pro-coalition Afghan commanders said most of the force fled toward the Pakistani border to regroup and return later.

British Royal Marines were sent into the area last week and at a news conference yesterday, their commander, Brigadier Roger Lane, said they found ‘‘there was evidence to suggest some terrorist facilities remained undiscovered and that (al-Qaida) forces had re-infiltrated.’’

He said the marines found undiscovered ‘‘terrorist facilities’’ - or cave complexes, including one which contained 20,000 rounds of large-calibre ammunition usually used to shoot down planes.

They also found documents, but he did not release details.

The operation was the Royal Marines’ first major large-scale combat mission in Afghanistan. About 400 mostly British troops - as well as much smaller numbers of US and Afghan forces - swept a rugged area of high desert and 10,000ft mountains that was a former al-Qaida and Taliban base and a key resupply route for their fighters.

Brig Lane would not comment directly on where he felt the bulk of the remaining al-Qaida and Taliban force was deployed. US soldiers who recently returned from a mission in eastern Afghanistan said local Afghans told them hundreds of al-Qaida fighters were just across the border, hiding in Pakistan.

Because of significant support for al-Qaida in pockets of Pakistan, it would be politically explosive for allied soldiers to operate there - at least openly.

Asked if the reason allied troops were not finding many al-Qaida or Taliban soldiers was because they were simply hiding in Pakistan, Brig Lane said: ‘‘that’s always a consideration.’’

But he said he only had permission to operate in Afghanistan ‘‘and that’s where I shall operate.’’