Posted on 02/14/2004 8:00:08 AM PST by knighthawk
NEW DELHI : Gearing up for the "final" battle against US-led forces in Afghanistan, Taliban was regrouping in the Khyber Agency region of Pakistan for the crucial offensive to be mounted in spring under a new commander to recapture major cities, media reports said.
"The resistance under a new commander is regrouping in the remote Khyber Agency region of Pakistan, using the infrastructure of people and fortifications laid by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda several years ago," Hong Kong-based Asia Times online said in a report.
Quoting Taliban sources, it said the new commander for the proposed "spring offensive" would be Mullah Sabir Momin of Orugzan province.
Uptil now, Pakistan has aided some commanders in Afghanistan belonging to the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
"Pakistan's purpose was not so much to damage the US interests, but to establish a counter-force to the growing pro-India presence along the Afghani border areas with Pakistan," though it worked against the US interests also, the report said.
American intelligence agencies "tracked HIA recruiting offices in Pakistani cities such as Karachi and Peshawar and pointed to the various locations in Pakistan where HIA volunteers were being given training, money and arms".
The report said "legendary" Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani - who joined Taliban, became a minister in the erstwhile Afghan regime and is now the "main force" behind the resistance in Khost and Paktia - visited Miran Shah in Pakistan several times, but authorities turned a blind eye".
It said that the Taliban would now "step up their struggle to include more suicide attacks" which would be the "prelude to a broader struggle that will start in spring in which the Taliban will attempt to retake the major cities in Afghanistan that they held before being ousted by the US in late 2001".
The US-led forces have been focussing on South Waziristan Agency in Pakistan as a "hotbed for the resistance where guerrillas hide and receive support from the local population between raids in Afghanistan ".
Final battle? That would be great. Toodle-oo, Taliban!
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