As clashes between Afghan and NATO troops and the Taliban continue, a British paper claimed the Taliban have invited thousands of Uzbek Islamists to the volatile Helmand province. Uzbek militants, who last week clashed with Pakistani tribesmen in the border region of Waziristan have been told they should join the Taliban, The Sunday Telegraph claimed. According to the paper, around 10,000 Uzbek militants are hiding in the border region, under the command of Tahir Yuldashev, who is thought to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda chief. If they accept the invitation, the violence in Afghanistan's Helmand region will escalate, wrote the paper, noting that 43 British soldiers have been killed there over the last five years.
| And thousands of Osama's "close friends" are pushing up poppies |
The clashes in Waziristan, which left around 160 dead, broke out when the members of the Islamic Movement Union of Uzbekistan fell out with their Pakistani hosts after accusing some tribal leaders of spying for the Pakistani government; 130 of the dead were Uzbek militants. Taliban fighters intervened to broker a cease-fire, but local officials have told The Sunday Telegraph that neither side is likely to back down. Taliban sources have revealed that they have offered the Uzbeks safe passage into Afghanistan in order to bring an end to the violence, reported The Sunday Telegraph. "The tribesmen are determined to flush [the Uzbeks] out. Given that they cannot be extradited back to their own country because they are all wanted there, one way they are considering to accommodate them is to send them to Afghanistan," said Lateef Afridi, a tribal leader from the province. | Just let us know when they'll arrive, we'll alert the welcome wagon. |
Afridi said the Taliban felt compelled to give the Uzbeks a way out because if the battle continued between the local tribesmen and the foreign fighters, the Taliban elements would have to choose which side to back, unleashing further bloodshed. The Uzbeks are believed to have killed more than 1,500 local tribesmen in the past two years, reported The Sunday Telegraph. | That'll wear out your welcome |
Meanwhile, Afghan and NATO troops killed 12 suspected Islamist insurgents overnight when they tried to attack a military base in a southeastern province on the border with Pakistan, the coalition said yesterday. Fighting between the Taliban rebels and troops has escalated with the end of winter in Afghanistan in what is expected to be a crunch year for both sides, reported Reuters. The latest incident took place near Fire Base Tillman in Paktika Province, and the attackers were repulsed with small arms fire, backed by air support and artillery, a statement from the coalition said. Two coalition and two Afghan soldiers received minor wounds, it added.
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| Lateef Afridi | | |
| TAHIR YULDASHEV | Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan | |
| Islamic Movement Union of Uzbekistan | |
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