KABUL (Pajhwok Afghan News): An Afghan commander Tuesday claimed they had recaptured one of the four Arab escapees who broke out of the main US base at Bagram, some 35 kilometres north of here.
Mehboob Amiri, commander of the Quick Action Force, told Pajhwok Afghan News the fugitive was hiding in a mosque in the Gulai village near Bagram. “He had taken refuge in a room used by the prayer leader.”
Without revealing the name or nationality of the man, Amiri added he was apprehended last night in a joint operation conducted by the Quick Action Force and ISAF. He continued efforts were on to track down the remaining three Arabs.
As the US military probed the daring jailbreak for a second day, Afghan officials identified the runaways as Mahmud Ahmed Mohammed (Kuwait), Mahmud al-Fatani (Saudi Arabia), Mohammed Hassan (Libya) and Abdullah Hashimi (Syria).
In a bid to recapture the three militants still at large, a massive manhunt featuring a large number of Afghan and coalition troops and helicopters was in progress in and around the sprawling base in the northern Parwan province.
Marveling at the first-ever escape from the heavily-fortified US base, Afghan officials were still groping for reasons as to how the “enemy combatants” from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Syria fled the high-security detention facility.
According to US estimates, up to 500 suspects are being held at the main US base in Afghanistan, where violence has escalated in the run-up to the September 18 elections. In what appears a taunt for the US-led coalition, Taliban have reportedly offered protection to the Arab suspects. Hakimi told an international wire service the movement was ready to shelter the men, should they approach the ousted student militia.
The escape came weeks after the downing of a Chinook helicopter- seen as a big reverse for the US military - in the troubled Kunar province, where a major anti-insurgency operation is currently underway.
At least 16 American servicemen perished in the crash, the biggest death toll suffered by the US forces in one day in Afghanistan. Three members of a Navy SEAL team that had gone missing in the area were later found dead while one was rescued alive.
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Letters
West’s terrorist campaigns
This is in response to Col. Riaz Jafri’s letter that appeared in the Frontier Post of July 9 2005. Such apologetic letters by the likes of the author and others have started to emerge as was expected.
The media in general has desensitized the public to the plight of Muslims by streaming televised impressions of what is termed “Islamic terrorism”. It is their intention to demonize an ideology to muster support for the pseudo “war on terror” in which countless innocent Muslim civilians have lost their lives as a result of the West’s terrorist campaigns.
The Muslim fatalities now run well into tens of thousands and are only cursorily reported by the media and no outrage in that regard pours from the public from anywhere in the world. However, in response to the retaliatory attacks by the victims of US and UK’s oppression, the media starts beaming pictures around the world of the West’s victimization at the hands of the so-called “terrorists”.
It is the West who have ravaged the lands of the Muslims and slaughtered thousands in cold blood. It is they who have plundered the natural resources of Muslim lands by installing puppet regimes that are subservient to their evil interests.
It was the US who aided Saddam militarily while he was involved in massacre of the Kurds. These and other culpable facts are preserved in scholarship and one only needs to visit a decent library to ascertain them and get a clear perspective. Now, all of a sudden, the West has worn some angelic attire and is leading the crusade against the so-called “evil” which they have installed around the world in the first place. It is rather naïve to expect that the people who are wronged in the most terrible of ways will sit quietly and endure the humiliation at the hands of the West in their own countries. Indeed these dreadful attacks were inevitable and were predicted by leading organizations that assess global security.
This in no way condones the horrendous events that transpired in the UK but the intention here is only to put matters in perspective especially for the so-called Muslims who have been brain washed by the western propagandist media and are now oblivious to their own plight.
Unfortunately, in response to the “you are with us or against us” doctrine and belligerent policies of the US and the UK in Muslim lands, such retaliatory attacks will only escalate.
Farrukh frkhnm@yahoo.com
MASHKEL: Panjgur Rifles (PR) a wing of the Frontier Post captured a big quantity of arms and ammunition and foiled the bid of smuggling here on Tuesday. As per information on the tip off Commandant Panjgur rifles appointed raiding party to apprehend the arms and ammunition smugglers.
Raiding party signaled a land cruiser to stop but despite stopping the smugglers riding in the vehicle started firing on the PR raiding party. PR raiding party chased the vehicle that left the land cruiser in the dark place and escaped from the site.
On search raiding party of Panjgur Rifles recovered heavy arms and ammunition. After registering case investigation were started.