"Surrender or be killed"

As America holds remembrance services to honour the victims of the September 11 attacks, Afghan Mujahideen today captured Osama bin Laden's Tora Bora cave complexes and gave his remaining al Qaeda soldiers an ultimatum - surrender or be killed.

The al Qaeda forces, thought to be preparing a last stand on a nearby peak in the White Mountains, were given until early tomorrow to give themselves up uncondionally.

Tribal fighters of the Eastern Alliance declared a temporary ceasefire when some retreating al Qaeda supporters said they were willing to discuss surrender terms.

The whereabouts of Bin Laden remain unclear. Other al Qaeda troops were said to be fleeing towards the Pakistan border.

Less than an hour before the ceasefire, al Qaeda fighters fled their cave hideouts in the Malawa Valley and Tora Bora, leaving behind evidence of their desperate stand against US bombardment and a breathtaking uphill assault by the Mujahideen from the north-west and east.

The first caves to be captured were dug into a ridge above Malawa over many months. Some of their ceilings were rock, while others were several feet thick and built from tree trunks, rocks and dirt. Inside, the walls were blackened by wood smoke and bloodied rags were strewn on the floor along with abandoned arms and ammunition.

Eastern Alliance commander Hazrat Ali, who led the frontal assault against Malawa and Tora Bora, this morning contacted al Qaeda using its radio frequency. He said the terrorists had initially asked for 10 minutes to consult on whether to surrender after two weeks of heavy US bombardment and 24 hours of constant fighting. Afghan commanders said that the Arabs appeared exhausted and broken. The ceasefire provided both sides with a respite from the terror of fighting on sheer rock-strewn slopes upon which mortars and cannon shells exploded with devastating impact, spreading shrapnel and flying stones over a huge area.

Although al Qaeda appears to have abandoned its cave complexes with relative speed, the first stages of the battle were by no means easy for the Mujahideen or the journalists with them.

I spent 20 minutes alongside tribal commander Haji Zahir, pinned down by heavy machinegun bullets which landed inches above our faces as we lay on our backs with our heads tucked behind small rocks for cover.

The machine-gunner was trying to stop us overrunning caves which we later discovered were being used as a store for valuable and much-needed ammunition for Bin Laden's fighters. As we eventually made our way into the caves the Mujahideen ignored the risk of boobytraps and kicked in the doors of terrorist bunkers. Fortunately the fleeing al Qaeda men did not have the time to lay traps.

During the ceasefire an extraordinary calm descended over Malawa Valley as the Mujahideen wandered about the terrorists' base which had been heavily bombed by B52s and fighter jets, turning acres of scrubland into ash and burning the sand-coloured earth black.

Mujahideen commanders remain divided as to whether Bin Laden has escaped or was among those considering their surrender offer.

Tribal fighters claimed some al Qaeda forces were trying to head south to escape into Pakistan.

Hazrat Ali, a senior commander with the eastern alliance, said: "They are running away. We are trying to block them from the other side. We will continue to fight them, to kill them and to capture them."

Other commanders said the mainly Arab and foreign Muslim forces might retreat along the Kharoti Pass, a high and often snowbound track that leads south into Pakistan.

Across the border, Pakistani soldiers have been deployed on mountains south of Tora Bora to stop al Qaeda fighters crossing the frontier along the 15,400ft White Mountains.

Tribal elders in Pakistan's semiautonomous regions bordering Afghanistan have agreed to help the army conduct house-to-house searches for Bin Laden and al Qaeda fighters. The move by the fiercely independent tribal leaders in the North West Frontier Province's Kurram agency will close off yet another possible escape route for Bin Laden and his men.

The US-led coalition spokesman in Islamabad, Kenton Keith, said he believed it is not a question of if, but when Bin Laden is captured or killed as the forces of Hazrat Ali closed in. Ali said his forces had taken one of two peaks of Enzeri Zur mountain, where hundreds of al Qaeda fighters were making a stand after being flushed from their cave shelters overnight by massive US bombing and raids by US ground forces, thought to be special forces units.

As his troops staged mop-up operations, Ali said: "We were successful. We captured a lot of caves. The largest ones were full of documents and personal belongings."

Meanwhile, hundreds of heavily-armed Pashtun warriors are reported to have entered Kandahar today in an apparent bid to grab a share of power. "They are coming and going, lots of cars full of armed people," according to an unidentified witness.

"There is a meeting going on inside Governor House," he added, referring to the HQ of new governor Gul Agha, who took control of Kandahar under a deal between Pashtun leaders on Sunday, two days after Taliban rule collapsed.

"There are lots of tribesmen standing by with their weapons. They say they want a share in the new government."