U.S., British Special Forces Help Tribal Fighters Hunt Bin Laden

TORA BORA, Afghanistan – Afghan tribal soldiers and U.S. and British special forces continued their hunt for Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden and what's left of his fleeing army Tuesday.

There was no word on where bin Laden might be following Sunday's capture of the mountain caves of Tora Bora where his terrorist network made its last major stand in Afghanistan.

At least 200 foreigners loyal to Al Qaeda were killed in battles culminating nine weeks of attacks by American warplanes and tribal eastern alliance ground forces. Hundreds were believed on the run in eastern Afghanistan, and reports varied as to how many had been captured.

U.S. special forces troops were inside Pakistan helping coordinate the search for fleeing Al Qaeda fighters, while CIA agents were at the country's detention centers interrogating the nearly 100 fugitives arrested, ABC News reported Monday.

Pakistan says it has arrested at least 88 fleeing Al Qaeda members in recent days. Bracing for further attempts to breach its border — just a few miles from the fighting — Pakistan moved more troops to the frontier to bolster the helicopter gunships and thousands of soldiers charged with cutting off escape routes.

An additional 18 captured Al Qaeda, many weeping, were led down the mountainside on mules by Afghan tribal fighters as snow fell.

Earlier, tribal leaders paraded the filthy prisoners before journalists in a village. Some limped. Others had bandaged heads. They said nothing as armed guards pushed them into a dusty yard in a valley where opium poppies once bloomed.

Some had their arms tied behind them with red nylon ropes. One who wasn't restrained tried to hide his face with a bandaged hand. Others stared vacantly. Reporters were barred from asking questions.

About 200 villagers stared. Manoghul, 23, cradled an AK-47. "When they were fighting us they were very proud men. Now they are weak. They cannot even look at us," he said.

It was unclear what would happen to the prisoners. Commanders alternately spoke of handing them over to U.S. authorities or letting Afghanistan's interim government, which takes office Saturday, deal with them. U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan have built a prisoner-of-war facility capable of holding 300 people.

The tribal eastern alliance, helped by American commandos and U.S. airstrikes, said they had routed Al Qaeda from the battered country.

But U.S. leaders said victory would not be declared until bin Laden is caught. And for now, no one knows where he is or what he's been doing.

"Anybody's guess," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy operations director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters Monday en route to Brussels, "Until we catch him — which we will — we won't know precisely where he's been." Rumsfeld briefly visited Afghanistan on Sunday.

Bombing by American warplanes could be heard in the Tora Bora region Monday morning, tapering off by afternoon.

Stufflebeem told reporters, "There are still isolated pockets of Al Qaeda fighting in this area, so we're not done yet." He estimated between 1,000 to 2,000 Al Qaeda had been in the White Mountains at the start of fighting.

Some tribal fighters said U.S. special forces were working with them as they searched the caves and tunnels left by fleeing Al Qaeda loyalists. Others complained they received no help.

Haji Zahir, the son of a local governor, said his faction captured 31 people — 22 Arabs and nine Afghans — after an exchange of gunfire.

"They did not want to surrender. But finally we were able to disarm them," he said, grumbling that there was no assistance from U.S. special forces.

Several local fighters said women and children were among the Al Qaeda dead, adding credence to reports that some foreign fighters had brought their families. Their accounts could not be independently verified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.