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Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan working hand-in-hand with al-Qaeda in Iraq
A convoy of U.S. military Humvees snakes along the dusty valley road, its occupants unaware they are being filmed from a distant hilltop. Suddenly, a massive explosion hits one vehicle, flipping it over and engulfing it in flames. The images were purportedly recorded in eastern Afghanistan late last year and appear on a militant propaganda video CD obtained by The Associated Press that gives a graphic indication of an insurgency that has adopted Iraq-style guerrilla tactics. The change has raised questions about whether local militants are simply emulating those destructive methods, such as roadside bombings, or if al-Qaida could be importing fighters from Iraq, where attacks have been considerably more sophisticated than in Afghanistan. An alleged Iraqi member of al-Qaida and three others from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were caught by Afghan security forces trying to sneak into Afghanistan from Iran this month. During interrogation they said a large group of fighters from Iraq was headed here, according to authorities in southwestern Nimroz province. "They're linked to al-Qaida and fought against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers," Nimroz Gov. Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad told the AP. His report suggested insurgents on two fronts in the war on terror could be cooperating to fight the United States, and that foreign militants operating in Afghanistan were entering not just from Pakistan as previously thought. In a videotape Jan. 30, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, said al-Qaida was waging war against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he threatened a new attack in the United States. "Who is pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, us or you?" al-Zawahri said in the tape, addressing Americans. The U.S. military in Kabul refused to comment, saying it doesn't discuss intelligence matters. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-17 |
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