| Submit your comments on this article |
| The Alliance |
| Pak jihadis marching to Afghanistan |
| 2001-09-23 |
Fighters from a pro-Taliban Pakistan Islamic group have begun marching to the Afghan border to fend off a possible U.S. invasion, a local leader of the group, Jamiat Ulema i-Islam (JUI), said on Sunday. The hardline Sunni Muslim group, a member of the Pakistan-Afghan Defense Council that supports the Taliban, said its mujahideen, or holy warriors -- many believed to have trained in camps inside Afghanistan -- would also be sent to surround air bases to try to prevent U.S. military from using the facilities. "We are moving our mujahideen," Abdul Ghafoor, leader of the JUI in western Baluchistan province that borders Afghanistan, told a news conference. "They are marching toward the Pakistan-Afghan border," he said, adding that they aimed to fight on behalf of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in case of U.S. attacks in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. "Our mujahideen will cordon off all air bases in Pakistan where the U.S. army operates," Ghafoor said. The JUI is a pro-Taliban party with strong bases in western Baluchistan and in North West Frontier Province that also borders Afghanistan and runs several madrasses, or Islamic religious schools, where many of the Taliban were educated. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |