Al-Qa'ida regrouping in training camps on Afghan border, says UN

Al-Qa'ida has set up several training camps in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, according to a United Nations group.

"A large number of al Qaeda operatives and others trained by al-Qa'ida remain at large," Michael Chandler, the head of the UN group which tracks financing links with al-Qa'ida, said yesterday.

Mr Chandlersaid the camps were in a region near the Khyber Pass, but an American official there was no evidence of any camps being reactivated.

Two American soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were wounded in Kabul yesterday in a grenade attack that may have been linked to al-Qa'ida.

The men were travelling in an unmarked vehicle when a grenade was hurled at them, the US military said. One of the soldiers suffered injuries to the head and "in the lower extremities" while the other suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg. Both were said to be in a stable condition. The interpreter was slightly wounded. There have been frequent attacks against American bases in eastern Afghanistan but attacks on American troops in Kabul are rare.

Taj Mohammed Wardak, the Afghan Interior Minister, said: "There is no doubt these people had links to al-Qa'ida." He did not say what evidence he had. A spokeswoman for the US military said three suspects had been arrested.