Ranging from the mysterious to the chilling, documents and weapons found by TIME in visits to seven abandoned al-Qaeda safe houses in Kabul last week depict an organizationally and technically sophisticated apparatus. The discoveries--including detailed personnel records for fighters, crates of French-made MILAN antitank missiles and sketches illustrating the ideal place to hide a bomb on an airplane--may help authorities trace the terror network and thwart future attacks.
At one five-bedroom suburban home, TIME found inventory forms for arms checked in by fighters. They detailed the type of weapon (from Kalashnikov rifle to Soviet-era T-62 tank), its country of origin and...