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| India-Pakistan |
| ‘Urdu speaking’ Taliban guarding Haji Sahib shrine |
| 2007-08-04 |
| Around 300 masked “Urdu speaking Taliban” are among those who have taken possession of the shrine of Pushtoon freedom fighter Haji Sahib Turangzai and an adjacent mosque in Mohmand Agency, Daily Times learnt on Friday. “No one recognises the Urdu speakers guarding the shrine. I talked to an Urdu-speaking Taliban who belonged to Punjab and could not speak Pushto,” a man, asking not to be named, told Daily Times. He added that nearly 300 Urdu speakers were among the 3,500 local Taliban present in the area. The source said that most of the Urdu-speaking Taliban belonged to several banned jihadi organisations operating in Kashmir. “They have joined the local Taliban to give a tough time to the government if it tried to vacate the tomb and mosque,” the source said. “Some Taliban have good command over English, Urdu, Arabic and Pushto and are issuing statements in several languages to the national and international media,” the source said. The source said the Taliban had only one rocket launcher with six mortar shells, while each Talib carried a klashnikov rifle. “About 250 armed Taliban are guarding the shrine while around 3,250 have taken positions in the surrounding hills,” he added. Meanwhile, the Taliban said they are not ready to vacate the shrine and mosque, but jirga member Maulvi Abdul Jabbar said he was hopeful the Taliban would vacate the two places on Sunday. Usman Gurubz, spokesman for the local Taliban, said the two sides – Taliban and the jirga – were continuing talks over the issue. However, he said the Taliban did not intend to vacate the two buildings. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #1 Time to napalm some hilltops and a "holy shrine". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-08-04 15:45 |