| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| '700 Qaeda fighters in southern Afghanistan' |
| 2007-02-12 |
| The governor of Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand said on Sunday hundreds of foreign Al Qaeda fighters had infiltrated his province and were behind regular attacks there. Assadullah Wafa also said authorities were still trying to persuade Taliban to leave the town of Musa Qala which they occupied about 10 days ago. A tribal elder involved in the talks said, however, the rebels had vowed to stay and fight. The NATO force and Afghan security forces could not confirm the governor’s information about Al Qaeda, which is linked to the Taliban movement, although it is unclear how deeply they are involved in the insurgency. Wafa said he had been passed intelligence that fighters had crossed over from Pakistan and were in two districts. “I cannot tell you an exact figure, but according to our information around 700 Al Qaeda terrorists have come to Sangeen and Kajaki districts from Waziristan (in Pakistan),” Wafa said. “They are mostly Chechen fighters, Chinese, Uzbeks and Pakistanis,” he said. Afghan and NATO forces were still in control of the districts but “terrorists” were carrying out attacks, he said. “The other day 10 Al Qaeda were killed in Kajaki,” he said. The Afghan police said the dead were Taliban insurgents. The Afghan Defence Ministry said it could not confirm or deny Wafa’s claim. A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could not comment on the presence of Al Qaeda. “We know there are a significant number of Taliban fighters in northern Helmand, northern Kandahar, in Uruzgan,” Colonel Tom Collins said. “They are in their winter sanctuaries in the base of the Hindu Kush (mountain range). Some of them are more elevated.” Lt Col Angela Billings, another spokeswoman for ISAF, said the Afghan government was leading the negotiations in Musa Qala and that didn’t know how long they would take. She said NATO was “always postured” for potential military action. “We’re here as a military force and we’ll strike when the situation warrants it,” she said. Billings said foreign fighters are operating in Helmand but that the estimate of 700 sounded high. She said she had no immediate information on troop movement near Musa Qala. Wafa said the government was waiting for civilians to leave Musa Qala before launching military action to take it back from the Taliban. “The town has been almost emptied. Around 1,500 families have left the town. The bazaar and shops are closed. There are Taliban in the town,” he said. Officials have been trying to negotiate a solution to the Musa Qala dilemma and had been hopeful the killing of one of the leaders of the town’s occupation a week ago would weaken the fighters resistance. “We will use military operations to retake control of the town when we become totally hopeless that there will be any peaceful means (of reclaiming the town). We don’t want any harm to civilians, that is why we are careful,” Wafa said. A tribal elder involved in the talks said on Sunday the Taliban had repeated they would not be part of negotiations. “They say they will fight with the government,” he said on condition of anonymity. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "Persuade" them at gunpoint, that they understand. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-02-12 08:20 |
| #1 authorities were still trying to persuade Taliban to leave the town Ah, how I love watching negotiations with no end in mind. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-02-12 05:18 |