Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 20:22:15 -0500
Subject: We're WINNING...Maybe



You can trust the military...



London Daily Telegraph
May 14, 2002
Arms Blown Up By Marines Were Mine, Says Afghan Ally
By Alex Spillius in Gardez
THIRTY lorry-loads of supposed terrorist arms destroyed in Afghanistan by
the Royal Marines probably belonged to a coalition ally, it emerged
yesterday.
Ibrahim Omari, a former commander in the anti-Soviet resistance, said the
four caves detonated amid much fanfare over the weekend at Gerdaserai in
south-eastern Paktia province contained weapons and ammunition he had stored
there 15 years ago.
He said he told the Americans of the cache four months ago. Then last week
he led British officers to the site and warned them of the landmines he had
placed and what they could expect to find.
The Ministry of Defence portrayed the incident as a major blow against
al-Qa'eda. It was said that, according to intelligence, the arms had been
stored recently, suggesting that Osama bin Laden's forces had used them in
the past few weeks.
Many journalists were flown to the site, although the caves are relatively
easily reached by taxi. The detonation was described as the largest
controlled explosion carried out by the Army since the Second World War.
It appears that the ministry or Cabinet Office was anxious to produce a
success after it briefed Brig Roger Lane, the Marines' commander, to claim
that the war against al-Qa'eda was "all but won".
Mr Ibrahim, the head of tribal affairs in Gardez city, one of the coalition
forces' two main forward bases, said: "The weaponry was nothing to do with
al-Qa'eda; my own people had been guarding it for years. I had been hoping
to save it for when we have a national army established, but never mind." Mr
Ibrahim laughed as he said that most of the weapons had been supplied by
America when it backed the anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s.
"Now the Americans' friends, the British, are blowing it up. I don't know
why they did that, perhaps they have other considerations," he said.
People in the area say it was common knowledge that the weaponry was Mr
Ibrahim's. Even one of his opponents, who would be expected to play down a
rival's military power, confirmed that.
Suspicions may justly be raised against Mr Ibrahim, whose brother,
Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a leading Taliban commander and is now believed to
have joined al-Qa'eda forces across the border in Pakistan.
But members of the new government in Kabul attest to his loyalty. He has
instructed tribal elders in his family's lands to co-operate fully with the
British.
The news of the munitions fiasco emerged as it was announced that Operation
Snipe, the al-Qa'eda hunt by 1,000 troops led by the Marines, was being
wound down after 16 days without a shot being fired.
Some Marines expressed their suspicion that the Ministry of Defence had
issued the order before there were any casualties and while a triumph could
be claimed. They saw the hand of spin doctors in the move.
The Marines, part of Britain's biggest combat deployment since the Gulf war,
have struggled through the thin air of the arid frontier mountains carrying
loads of between 120lb and 150lb. But they have had no contact with the
enemy, which has melted into the local population or filtered across the
border.
US special forces killed five gunmen and captured 32 in a raid on a compound
in southern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said yesterday.
No American troops were killed in the incident about 50 miles north of
Kandahar, said the Defence Department spokesman, Lt Col Dave Lapan. The
battle was the first for several weeks between US forces and suspected
Taliban or al-Qa'eda fighters.
Unknown assailants have also fired rockets at US positions near Khost 
ineastern Afghanistan.