US forces are searching the al-Qaeda lair of caves in Afghanistan for clues to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and more American troops will be sent to help them, defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said.
US warplanes will be also equipped with a new fuel-air explosive to drop into the cave complexes, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday.
Rumsfeld declined to say how many additional soldiers might be sent to the Tora Bora area, which was largely abandoned by al-Qaeda fighters early this week.

"Whatever is needed will be sent," he told a Pentagon press conference. "And it won't be just US, it will be coalition forces."

"It is dangerous work," the secretary said, "but a sense of urgency compels it," Rumsfeld said. "Information gleaned from searches elsewhere inside Afghanistan has led to the arrest of people across the world ... And undoubtedly have prevented terrorist activities," Rumsfeld said.
So far, bin Laden, held responsible by the US for the Sep 11 attacks, has eluded coalition forces. "We don't know if he is alive or dead," said Gen.Peter pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Rumsfeld at the press conference.

Bureau Report