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Afghan Taliban say rearmed,
ready for war
Saeed Ali Achakzai
Reuters
saturday, February 24, 2007
Rearmed with new guns the Taliban on Friday vowed
this would be the deadliest year for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan
since the Islamists were toppled in 2001.
"This year will prove to be the bloodiest for the foreign
troops. It is not just a threat, we will prove it," senior
commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters by satellite phone.
"The Taliban's war preparations are going on in caves and
in mountains. Our 6,000 fighters are ready for attacks on foreign
troops after the change in weather and as it becomes warmer."
His comments came as Britain approved a plan to send a wave of
extra troops to Afghanistan to repel an expected spring offensive
by the Taliban, British government sources said.
Taliban leaders say they expect to be able to field 10,000 soldiers
after the bloodiest year since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, with
a big increase in suicide fighters after conventional pitched battles
brought heavy losses for the rebels.
With winter snows melting, fighting has already picked up dramatically
in recent weeks.
Dadullah said the extra weapons the Taliban were being supplied
-- he did not say from where -- included the ability to bring down
the NATO and U.S. helicopters crucial to their operations in this
rugged, mountainous country.
The rebels said they shot down a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter
earlier this month in southern Afghanistan that killed eight U.S.
soldiers and wounded 14. The U.S. said the pilot reported engine
failure.
The insurgents have claimed several foreign chopper downings, but
only one has been confirmed since the 2001 war. That was in 2005
when 17 soldiers died when their craft was hit as it came in to
land during combat operations.
NATO, the United States and the Taliban are promising spring offensives
in what they and analysts regard a crunch year in a country still
in crisis more than five years after the Taliban's fall.
More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, died in fighting
last year.
But on Friday, more than 30,000 people rallied in a Taliban execution
ground to support an all-embracing amnesty for war criminals, including
members of parliament and government officials.
Parliament insists amnesty for those guilty in almost 30 years
of war is essential for peace and reconciliation. Local and international
rights groups say punishment is essential for peace and to allow
the country to move on.
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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