Afghan ammunition caves to be demolished

A complex of caves in Afghanistan where British commandos found "more than 20 truckloads" of ammunition are being prepared for demolition.

Marines discovered the ammunition and weapons behind padlocked doors in a complex of four caves in Afghanistan.

Major Jeff Moulton said marines in the remote mountains of south eastern Afghanistan are preparing the four caves for demolition.

The caves, 10ft high and 150ft deep "are full or ordnance," he said, adding that any unknown ordnance had to be treated as unstable and destroyed.

Major Moulton said the cache, believed to belong to the Taliban or al-Qaida, included artillery and mortar rounds, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades - "all of these by the hundreds".

The caves, discovered by a Marines force this week, were closed with padlocked, metal doors.

Major Moulton said intelligence indicated the caves had been used recently. The find came as part of Operation Snipe, a 1,000-man, British-led mission in the mountains of Paktika province.

So far, the troops have had no enemy contact. Major Moulton reported three casualties on Friday - one commando with a twisted knee, another with diarrhoea and a third with altitude sickness.