Dissent grows in caves of Tora Bora

BAMOKHIL, AFGHANISTAN

Osama bin Laden may have fled the Tora Bora mountain redoubt in eastern Afghanistan.

Both Afghan sources close to Mr. bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization and Egyptian defectors say that the Saudi exile may have abandoned them. And a split is emerging between hard-core Algerian fighters and other Arabs, including some Egyptians, now defending the fortress of caves and tunnels in the White Mountains.

"The men are saying that as long as Osama and his top lieutenants are hiding in caves and not doing any of the front-line fighting, they don't want to sacrifice their lives for the Al Qaeda cause," says an Afghan who helped spirit several defecting Egyptian families, including a dozen children, to safety.

American B-52 and F-16 fighter attacks have caused massive rockslides in the Tora Bora mountain valley.

"The bombs are knocking huge boulders off the side of the mountain, and several of them have rolled down on young children," says an Afghan villager who traveled into the pocket.

"Some of the Al Qaeda fighters have become extremely demoralized in the last couple of days," says Pir Bajsham, a senior Afghan intelligence official for eastern Afghanistan. "Some will fight to the last bullet, but we also expect hundreds to surrender when their food and ammunition runs low. It is only a question of when."

Allied airstrikes have targeted the Al Qaeda base at Tora Bora nearly every day for three weeks. Bombing intensified Sunday, but dropped off yesterday as Western-backed Afghan tribal warlords sent guerrilla platoons up rocky paths toward Al Qaeda positions in what one commander described as a three-pronged attack.

"The US air raids have been cut back to allow my men to advance into the mouth of Tora Bora," says Husta Gul, an Afghan officer.

Afghan fighters, resupplied by camel, have edged up to firing posts overlooking the Tora Bora valley, where between 1,000 and 2,000 Arab and Chechen fighters are holed up. Yesterday evening, tribal forces claimed to have captured a ridge on the Milwawa valley next-door to Tora Bora. But for the most part, Western-backed Afghan fighters have made little progress flushing out Arabs and Chechen fighters, despite the defections.

The remoteness of the terrain has forced the ragtag Afghans, many of whom fought in the same mountains against Soviet aggression, to move on foot through intersecting lines of Al Qaeda fire.

And then there are the recurring disputes between ostensibly allied anti-Taliban factions. One recent incident played like a scene from a Mexican Western: The aging warlord, wrapped in a brown blanket, refused to release his prisoner. Suddenly, machine guns cocked and fighters on both sides dived for cover.

Cmdr. Haji Zaman Ghamsharik never flinched. His men spread out in the rocks and aimed their guns at the regional governor's son, Haji Zahir. The governor's son decided to let the matter rest.

"Hold your fire," ordered the warlord.

Moments later, Commander Ghamsharik explained his side of the dispute. "The Taliban gave that man 500 weapons, and so we stopped him from trying to supply Al Qaeda," he said. "I told my people to catch him. The governor's son said that he was their man. That is a lot of [expletive]. I don't care who is supplying Al Qaeda, we must stop them."

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