Taliban say "hundreds" of suicide attackers ready
thestar/reuters: A Taliban commander said on Tuesday hundreds of his guerrillas were ready to launch suicide attacks across Afghanistan to drive out foreign forces.
The threat of violence came as several thousand people gathered in the town of Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan, to denounce a suicide attack there on Monday that killed 23.
"Hundreds of Afghan Taliban mujahideen are ready for suicide attacks," said the Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah.
"They only await orders from the Taliban leadership," he said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
Afghanistan has seen a wave of 19 suicide attacks in the past year, including 13 in the past 10 weeks, the United Nations says.
Security analysts suspect the Taliban have stepped up suicide attacks after seeing al Qaeda's success in Iraq.
The attacks have come as the United States hopes to cut back its troop strength in Afghanistan from more than 18,000 to 16,500 in the next few months.
Members of NATO, who have an Afghan peacekeeping force of almost 10,000, are due to increase their numbers to 15,000 and take over responsibilities from U.S. forces in the restive south.
The government says the insurgents appear to be trying to frighten NATO members from their expansion and to unsettle aid donors due to meet in London at the end of the month to draw up a long-term plan to help Afghanistan.
Dadullah said attacks would increase.
"Taliban mujahideen are present in all cities of Afghanistan and they will continue to increase their attacks," he said.
"An increase in the number of foreign forces in Afghanistan will make it easier to attack and inflict losses on them."
The Taliban have been battling U.S-led troops since being ousted in 2001, months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, after they refused to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Read more
The threat of violence came as several thousand people gathered in the town of Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan, to denounce a suicide attack there on Monday that killed 23.
"Hundreds of Afghan Taliban mujahideen are ready for suicide attacks," said the Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah.
"They only await orders from the Taliban leadership," he said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
Afghanistan has seen a wave of 19 suicide attacks in the past year, including 13 in the past 10 weeks, the United Nations says.
Security analysts suspect the Taliban have stepped up suicide attacks after seeing al Qaeda's success in Iraq.
The attacks have come as the United States hopes to cut back its troop strength in Afghanistan from more than 18,000 to 16,500 in the next few months.
Members of NATO, who have an Afghan peacekeeping force of almost 10,000, are due to increase their numbers to 15,000 and take over responsibilities from U.S. forces in the restive south.
The government says the insurgents appear to be trying to frighten NATO members from their expansion and to unsettle aid donors due to meet in London at the end of the month to draw up a long-term plan to help Afghanistan.
Dadullah said attacks would increase.
"Taliban mujahideen are present in all cities of Afghanistan and they will continue to increase their attacks," he said.
"An increase in the number of foreign forces in Afghanistan will make it easier to attack and inflict losses on them."
The Taliban have been battling U.S-led troops since being ousted in 2001, months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, after they refused to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Read more
posted by exoplanet at 3:32 PM
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