Largest SAS battle since Falklands

The operation in which four SAS men were wounded last week was one of the largest undertaken by the regiment since the Falklands War 20 years ago.

The 90-strong force attacked a complex of caves in southern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden had been reported hiding only a few days before. "There was a lot of shooting and fighting," according to one source close to the regiment. "A lot of enemy were killed."

One of the injured is the Regimental Sergeant Major. A trooper who was also injured is believed to be the son of a member of the regiment who died in a helicopter crash in the Falklands War.

The search-and-destroy raids by special forces are now the main tactic in the hunt for Bin Laden. Yesterday US vice-president Dick Cheney said he thought it likely that Bin Laden is either in the vicinity of Kandahar or in the mountains around Tora Bora, about 40 miles from Jalalabad.

However, travellers through the area are sceptical about the lavish drawings appearing in newspapers yesterday showing Tora Bora as a magic fortress with all mod cons. The Americans have been building "forward mounting bases" for helicopter assault forces. The US is planning to send 24 fighter bombers to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan to boost air attacks on areas where Bin Laden is thought to be hiding.

The French are stationing six Mirage fighter-bombers in Kyrgyzstan to join in the air strikes. However, this does not disguise the growing view among UK defence chiefs that this is America's war. Britain's planning team working at US Central Command at Tampa, Florida, is likely to be scaled back in the coming week. US forces are now so technically superior, particularly in surveillance, that they find it hard to coordinate with Nato allies.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross says that aid distribution is impossible due to the threat posed by marauding Taliban and bandits.