“I can certainly confirm that there are members of Britain’s armed forces on the ground in northern Afghanistan liaising with the Northern Alliance, providing advice and assistance,” Hoon told BBC Radio 4’s “The World this Weekend” programme.

Hoon’s comment was the first official confirmation that British troops were on the ground inside Afghanistan.

London promised last month it would deploy more than 200 Royal Marines in the Gulf for a ground force operation in Afghanistan, backed up by assorted ships and aircraft carriers. It placed 400 Marines on maximum alert in Britain.

no N-bomb: British Defence Minister Geoff Hoon on Sunday dismissed reported claims by Osama bin Laden that he had a nuclear bomb and was prepared to use it, but said he had managed to get hold of nuclear material.

“We are certainly aware that he has some material that could contribute to a nuclear weapon. We are not convinced at this stage that he is capable of producing a nuclear bomb,” Hoon told BBC television.

“But certainly we have to be very careful. This is a thoroughly dangerous man. He is a man who has no scruples, no morality, no reservations about killing civilians to achieve his perverted ends,” he added.—Agencies