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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban commander threatens further attacks |
| 2005-12-29 |
| A top Taliban commander said more than 200 rebel fighters were willing to become suicide attackers against U.S. forces and their allies â a claim dismissed as propaganda Monday by Afghanistanâs government, which said the hard-line militia was weakening. In an interview late Sunday the commander, Mullah Dadullah, ruled out any reconciliation with the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and claimed the countryâs new parliament â its first in more than 30 years, inaugurated last week â was âobedient to America.â Dadullah spoke to the AP via satellite phone from an undisclosed location. He said he was inside Afghanistan. âMore than 200 Taliban have registered themselves for suicide attacks with us which shows that a Muslim can even sacrifice his life for the well-being of his faith. Our suicide attackers will continue jihad [holy war] until Americans and all of their Muslim and non-Muslim allies are pulled out of the country,â he said. Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistanâs Defense Ministry, dismissed Dadullahâs claims of rebel strength as âpropagandaâ and said Afghanistan had enough security forces to deal with the rebels. âThe Taliban are isolated. The Taliban have no power. They are using land mines and terror activities ... or suicide attacks. These kind of operations show they are not strong and that they are weak,â Azimi said. Dadullah, who lost a leg fighting for the Taliban during its rise to power in the mid-1990s, is one of the hard-line militiaâs top commanders, responsible for operations in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan â and as such, a man wanted by the U.S.-led coalition hunting Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. In November, Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said intelligence indicated that a number of Arab al-Qaida members and other foreigners had entered Afghanistan to launch suicide attacks. A senior government official said 22 would-be suicide bombers were believed to be in the country waiting for orders to attack. Dadullah implied that the Taliban and al-Qaida were working together, and said mujahedeen from various parts of the world, including Arabs, were fighting in Afghanistan. He said the foreigners made up about 10 percent of the fighters. âBoth Taliban and al-Qaida have the same objectives,â he said, warning that anyone supporting the Americans and the government âwill be dealt with.â U.S. military officials in Afghanistan could not immediately be reached for comment Monday on Dadullahâs remarks. In another sign that links between the Taliban and al-Qaida have continued, a tape of al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri surfaced this month in which he praised the Taliban chief Mullah Omar. In the tape, al-Zawahri claimed the rebel leader had won back control of extensive areas of western and eastern Afghanistan, though government and U.S. officials say the Talibanâs influence is in fact waning. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |