FARMA HADDA and KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

The hunt for Osama bin Laden may be narrowing to a network of caves near the village of Tora Bora, in Afghanistan's eastern White Mountains.

Mr. Bin Laden has been seen in the last four days, spending his days in caves and moving around on horseback by night, according to local intelligence reports.

Those who have spent time with bin Laden say he generally travels in a small group of not more than 20 handpicked men, although other members of the Al Qaeda organization may be traveling along with their wives and children.

As Taliban-controlled territory shrinks, bin Laden's ability to counterattack or conduct a propaganda war is becoming limited. Loss of ammo dumps, training camps, and safe houses is "significantly damaging - not only to the Taliban's ability to control the country, but also to bin Laden's ability to plan and launch terrorist acts," says Gary Samore at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London "He must focus on being on the run."

A former US Special Forces officer involved in manhunts in Vietnam, Panama, and Somalia agrees: "Bin Laden's in 'bunker syndrome.' He's in a cave, behaving like Hitler. He's still sending messages out, he's still half-directing things. But his ability to move and communicate is very, very limited."

But the White Mountains - with their snow-capped peaks, steep valleys, and fortified caves (some with their own coal-fired heating systems) are a formidable and familiar base for bin Laden.

They once served as an operations center for the 10-year campaign by Afghanistan's holy warriors, or mujahideen, against the Soviet invading troops who occupied the nearby city of Jalalabad and much of the country.

Local commanders say the area is nearly impregnable. They should know. Many of them are former mujahideen themselves.

"I lived up there as a mujahideen in the 1980s, and it's almost impossible to attack," says Hazrat Ali, an Afghan militia commander who took over Jalalabad after the Taliban government fell two weeks ago and now serves as internal security chief for Nangarhar Province, which includes Jalalabad.

But despite the challenge, Mr. Ali says his men are preparing to hunt down bin Laden. "We will give him to the international authorities [if we capture him]."

While bin Laden's precise location is not known at present, it's clear that the American military and their new Afghan allies now are focusing on the villages and outlying areas 35 miles south of Jalalabad.

In the past three days, there have been daily US bombing raids on nearby former Al Qaeda training camps and former homes of bin Laden, and leaflets with bin Laden's picture have been dropped over Jalalabad itself. Local checkpoints, manned by militia commanders who replaced the fleeing Taliban, are on high alert, and travelers and shopkeepers who come from the White Mountains report seeing Arabs operating in the southern part of the city.

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