Afghan Arsenal Found

British marines broke into a suspicious village compound in southeastern Afghanistan over the weekend and discovered a huge cache of guns, mortars and explosives that may have belonged to Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The marines said the stash in Surwipan was one of the largest caches they have found in weeks of searching the area around the town of Khowst, near the Pakistan border. More than 10 men were also found in the compound, and some were detained.

“We were taken aback by the amount of stuff here,” Sgt. Buck Ryan said.

The surprise find came Saturday when a patrol of marines from Britain’s 45 Commando Group spotted a large antenna array on top of the compound.

The troops smashed through the compound’s stone wall. The men inside surrendered without a fight. Eight were brought to a military interrogation center at Bagram air base, north of the capital, Kabul, officials said.

The armory included hundreds of large mortar rounds and rockets; 65,000 rounds of small arms ammunition; rocket launchers; antiaircraft machine guns; and large mortar launchers.

There were also several boxes of plastic explosives as well as timers, detonation cords and other equipment for making bombs and booby traps, said Sgt. Colin Hill, a munitions expert.

Meanwhile, in Kabul, the new central government faced a fresh round of difficulty Sunday as the former interior minister publicly questioned the legitimacy of most of President Hamid Karzai’s Cabinet and said he may organize a new opposition party.

Younis Qanooni spoke to reporters a day after government TV announced that he had been appointed education minister and presidential national security advisor.

Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik, said he had not decided whether to accept either appointment. He said he was considering forming a opposition party instead. If he refuses to join the government, Qanooni, who has a small army loyal to him, would be the first significant leader to break with the administration.