GARDEZ, WASHINGTON

The commander of US forces in Afghanistan says "Operation Anaconda" is almost over. The most intense fighting in the offensive, against Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, ended last Wednesday. Now around 500 Canadian and US soldiers, and a similar number of Afghan troops, remain in the mountains near the eastern city of Gardez.

They are conducting a cave-by-cave search to flush out any remaining militants. The man in overall charge of coalition forces in country, General Tommy Franks, said "future operations are likely to be the same size as Anaconda." Franks admits the US does not know where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is, nor how many militants he has in Afghanistan.

US officials say that 500 enemy fighters were killed during the offensive in the Shah-i-Kot valley, which started on March 2. At least 15 American and Afghan government soldiers have also lost their lives. Local Afghan commanders say many of the guerrillas have escaped to Pakistan. There has been no contact with the rebels in the past 24 hours and no new casualties have been reported.

There had been no fighting in the past 24 hours and no new rebel bodies found, adding to speculation that hundreds of rebels may have escaped the dragnet to border areas of Pakistan.

"It's not about body count," says U.S. military spokesman Captain Steven O'Connor. "Bombs can blow bodies apart and they can remain unidentified."

Pentagon Says "U.S. Forces Kill 16 in Convoy Attack"

US defense officials said today that elite U.S. troops killed 16 people in an attack on a convoy believed carrying fleeing Al-Qaeda guerrillas in eastern Afghanistan.

"We don't have a lot of details yet, but 16 were killed, one was wounded and one captured. No American troops were injured," one official told Reuters, adding that the attack took place about 45 miles southwest of Gardez.

Afghan officials hope that it is not a 'mistaken' attack like several others before, when US troops killed innocent Afghan civilians.