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Cave searches yield info, al Qaeda casualties

U.S. Special Forces ride ATVs near Tora Bora last month.

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- U.S. forces have found ammunition, tanks and a "considerable loss of life" in cave complexes formerly occupied by al Qaeda in the Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan, the head of U.S. Central Command said Friday.

"We believe al Qaeda has had cells destroyed," said Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in Southwest Asia. "We believe that their elements have been disrupted, and we believe that the al Qaeda which is still inside Afghanistan is on the run."

U.S. forces have searched seven of eight major cave complexes in the mountainous region, finding numerous casualties, intelligence information and weapons. The eighth complex is at a "very high" altitude, "so we're not in a hurry to clear that," Franks said.

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Forensics teams are trying to identify those killed in the cave complexes, which last month were subject to intensive U.S. airstrikes and allied ground attacks. U.S. officials said al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, sought refuge in the caves, and hope to determine if any died there.

"What we have found, as we have gotten into these complexes, is evidence of considerable loss of life," Franks said. "We have found intelligence information that indicates that al Qaeda was, in fact, using that (area) very heavily."

Searches of more than 40 facilities and safe houses in Afghanistan have revealed al Qaeda's strong interest to acquire weapons of mass destruction, Franks said. No one has found evidence any such weapons exist inside Afghanistan, he said.

Intelligence information has indicated that Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is in Helmand province, near Baghran, where Taliban fighters recently have begun surrendering. But Franks said he does not know where bin Laden is.