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Wounded SAS men were in cave raid By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 01/12/2001) FOUR British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan last week were taking part in one of the largest raids ever mounted by the SAS, sources close to the regiment said yesterday. At least one complete Sabre squadron, around 60 men, carried out an assault on mountain caves near Kandahar in which al-Qa'eda terrorists were thought to be hiding. After four hours of intense fighting, which left 18 Afghans dead and four SAS soldiers wounded, they managed to storm the cave complex. Dozens of terrorists were wounded and captured. But none is thought to have been an important leader. Intelligence sources dismissed suggestions that the SAS expected to find Osama bin Laden, saying he was believed to be in the Tora Bora caves near Jalalabad. It was one of the largest SAS operations since October 1971, when two complete Sabre squadrons captured the mountain plateau at Jibjat in the western Omani region of Dhofar. Although the SAS is known for working in small four- man patrols, that is only the smallest operational force and it can operate in larger multiples of four. Complete squadrons were used during operations in Aden and Oman in assaults on guerrilla hide-outs, which were often in mountain caves. The SAS was expected to mount more such operations as the net tightens around the Taliban and al-Qa'eda forces. Normally the SAS is highly secretive about its operations but has been under pressure to disclose more details of its action in Afghanistan as the Government tries to show that British troops are taking part in ground operations. But there is concern at the SAS headquarters in Hereford that, if too much information leaks out about the wounded men, they or their families could be identified and become targets of reprisals. US Marines prepare defensive positions around their base in southern Afghanistan The four wounded SAS soldiers were flown back to Britain and are now in the Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham. The worst hurt of the four was hit in the stomach, arm and the top of one leg. He is in a stable condition but still faces losing the leg. His father took part in the Dhofar operations and died during the Falklands War when a Sea King helicopter transferring troops from Hermes to Intrepid crashed into the sea. Eighteen SAS died in the crash - the worst single post-war loss of life suffered by the SAS. For more than a month the SAS has been on the ground in Afghanistan, operating with its American counterparts in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and helping to co-ordinate attacks by opposition Afghan groups on Taliban positions. Its operations in the south, such as the battle in which the SAS troopers were wounded, were designed to clear Taliban and al-Qa'eda elements out of the territory, forcing them back to Kandahar. Two SAS squadrons are in Afghanistan along with an operational headquarters and about 100 members of the Special Boat Service.