British and US troops find al-Qaida weapons

British and US troops have discovered a cache of weapons and explosives during a raid on an Afghan village.

The soldiers said it was a base for al-Qaida to plan attacks.

Around 120 British Royal Marines and US special forces swept into Atalay village in southern Afghanistan under cover of darkness before dawn on Thursday.

They seized four compounds and took 17 people into custody, British Lieutenant Commander Gary Lydiate said.

All but five of the prisoners were later released, US spokesman Roger King added.

The remaining five were thought to have "intelligence value," and were still being questioned to determine if they were linked to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

Troops found weapons, plastic explosives and bomb-making equipment, as well as documents of intelligence value that were being analysed.

"Someone made a hasty escape," British 2nd Lieutenant David Spink, one of the first soldiers to enter the barn, said. "This is not your average farmer with a weapon. We are quite used to farmers with AK-47s. But these explosives are far from the norm."

Lieutenant Commander Lydiate said it was launched after "unambiguous intelligence" that al-Qaida was using the site. Based on the weapons caches, "we have identified this as a possible site which al-Qaida was planning operations from," he said.