U.S. Troups Found Afghan Biological Weapons Lab

[boblandis]

U.S. Troops Found Afghan Biological Weapons Lab

Fri Mar 22,11:35 AM ET

By Dominic Evans

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. troops battling remnants of the al Qaeda network in southeast Afghanistan (news - web sites) uncovered a biological weapons laboratory during recent mountain operations, a British government source said on Friday.

 

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the discovery (news - web sites) was a major factor behind Britain's sudden decision this week to agree to send up to 1,700 elite mountain troops to reinforce the U.S.-led coalition waging the "war on terror."

"They found a biological weapons laboratory during Operation Anaconda," he said, giving no further details.

"One of the reasons for sending the marines out was to keep them (al Qaeda) on the run," he added. "It made the need for troops more urgent."

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday he was rushing the troops to Afghanistan in the biggest British combat deployment since the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).

Hoon gave few details of their mission but said they were going to mop up the remnants of the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters and would stay in Afghanistan until "the job was done."

The British government source said the al Qaeda network appeared "quite well advanced in biological weapons and chemical weapons technology."

He said he was frankly amazed there had been no major incidents since the September 11 kamikaze attacks in New York and Washington, which gave even greater urgency to the operations against Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network.

The U.S. troops were surprised at the strength of the opposition and the sophistication of the weaponry they encountered in the high altitude operation against the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters holed up in caves in the mountains.

Eight U.S troops were killed in the operation earlier this month in the mountains south east of the Afghan capital Kabul.

The United States, which has poured thousands of troops into Afghanistan, said on Monday Operation Anaconda -- the biggest battle of the war to date -- was winding down.

Following the apparent success of the Afghan operations, the United States has turned its political sights increasingly on Iraq which, along with North Korea (news - web sites) and Iran, it accuses of making weapons of mass destruction and spawning terror.