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| Afghanistan |
| Arabs are the backbone of the Taliban forces |
| 2001-10-09 |
Afghans who left the Taliban say the so-called Afghan Arabs have become the military backbone of the regime and will put up a fierce fight against America and its allies too. "They are not afraid to die. They want to die," said Mullah Mohammed Hassan, who fought with the Taliban north of Kabul, the Afghan capital, before defecting to Pakistan this year. That sentiment is echoed by Western intelligence sources. Most of the Arab warriors are wanted in their own countries for plotting to overthrow their governments. Bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahri, was tried in absentia and sentenced to death for his activities in Jihad, the organization blamed for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The Arabs are joined on the battlefield by thousands of other Muslim fighters, most from Pakistan, but also from Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the Philippines. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |