U-S and British military forces in Afghanistan have detained five people and confiscated weapons and explosives during a raid on a suspected al-Qaida hideout north of Kandahar.
Coalition officials told reporters Friday the five detainees have definite intelligence value to the U-S -led war on terror, but that it is too early to say whether they are members of Osama bin Laden's terror network. The western troops also recovered automatic weapons, plastic explosives, materials for making booby traps and documents.
The weapons and other materials were seized in a pre-dawn raid Thursday in a village some 80 kilometers north of the former Taleban capital. No one was injured during the raid. A spokesman said the operation was based on what he called "unambiguous intelligence" that the village was being used by al-Qaida.
Coalition forces have mounted several search and seizure operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan in recent weeks, but many times have come up with only traces of the militants.