Posted on 10/27/2001 8:22:33 AM PDT by codeword
TEMERGARAH, Pakistan (AP) -- In buses and trucks, pickups and vans, more than 5,000 people rolled out of a northeastern Pakistan village Saturday morning, bound for the Afghan frontier and vowing to fight a holy war against the United States.
Thousands of Pakistani men, young and old, had massed in Temergarah on Friday night with assault rifles, machine guns, even rocket launchers. A few even carried axes and swords.
Their mission, they said: to enter Afghanistan's Kunar province and help the country's ruling Taliban defend against any ground incursions by American troops.
``I am an old man. I consider myself lucky to go -- and to face the death of a martyr,'' said Shah Wazir, 70, a retired Pakistani army officer. In his hands Saturday morning, he carried a French rifle from about 1920.
Organizers said similar-sized groups were massing in other towns across North West Frontier Province, an enclave of ethnic Pashtuns with ties to -- and deep feelings for -- neighboring Afghanistan.
Volunteers gathered in scores of groups of 20, sitting on the ground to be briefed on the ways of jihad -- Islamic holy war -- by military commanders wearing black turbans and full beards similar to the Taliban militia. One key rule: obedience to leaders.
``It is a difficult time for Islam and Muslims. We are in a test. Everybody should be ready to pass the test -- and to sacrifice our lives,'' said Mohammad Khaled, one brigade leader. Would-be warriors embraced and chanted anti-American slogans.
Hussain Khan, 19, a carpenter from the area, carried a Kalashnikov and stood with his friend. He said he was leaving behind a fiancee and joining a just cause.
``Whether I come back alive or I am dead, I'll be fortunate because I am fighting in the service of Islam,'' Khan said.
The call for holy war came this week from Sufi Mohammad, an outspoken Muslim cleric who runs a madrassa, or religious school, in nearby Madyan. He exhorted ``true Muslims'' to mass and prepare to go to Afghanistan -- to repel any U.S. ground incursions.
How they will get there, and what they will do upon arrival, is uncertain. Their way station before entering Afghanistan is Bajur, a borderland tribal village where volunteers from different area will come together this weekend.
In this region of Pakistan, Mohammad's organization, Tehrik Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi Malakand, or Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws, has been embraced.
And the cleric's message -- that, despite its insistence to the contrary, the United States is waging war on Islam itself -- hits home.
``This is a strange occasion of world history,'' Mohammad said Friday. ``For the first time, all the anti-Islamic forces are united against Islam.''
It was impossible to verify how many supporters were actually en route to join him. In recent weeks, many militants have claimed far more backing than rallies eventually produce.
However, the numbers in Temergarah on Saturday morning -- and the people jammed into trucks and on bus rooftops -- suggested support was heavy. Mohammad's backers say the number to enter Afghanistan will reach 100,000.
``We are not worried about death,'' said Khaled, the brigade leader. ``If we die in jihad, it is something much more greater than to be alive. And we will be taken into paradise.''
The night before, men had massed by the thousands in Temergarah and other wind-whipped mountain villages in northeastern Pakistan's mountains.
Out-of-towners, their conversation crackling with anticipation, roamed Temergarah's streets. Pickup trucks patrolled town with loudspeakers attached, calling people to assemble with a chant: ``Afghanistan will be a graveyard for Americans.'' Men huddled around radios, listening for news about the conflict; most tuned in to the BBC.
People camped on porches, beneficiaries of local hospitality. Others slept on floors of public buildings. Mosques lodged as many as they could, and supplied food and blankets.
``I cannot tolerate the bombing and the cruelty of Americans. I must go,'' said Mamoor Shah, a medicine salesman who, at 18, already has a wife and child. ``Muslims cannot keep silent.''
For many young men, this is no mere rite of passage. It is religion -- and it is blood, heritage and family.
``I'm going. My mother sent me to fight for our faith,'' said Farooq Shah, 21, a student from Buner, 50 miles away. When she told him to go, he had no Kalashnikov. So she went out, sold her jewelry and bought him one.
Another young man, Zabih Ullah, listed the people to defend in his jihad, or holy war -- Osama bin Laden, his Arab friends, and Afghanistan itself.
And, Ullah said as he prepared for a war, no one will be permitted to get in the way.
``If anybody stops us, according to Islamic law we are allowed to fight jihad against him also,'' he said. ``We will not put our arms down until the end of the American aggression.''
The call for holy war came this week from Sufi Mohammad, an outspoken Muslim cleric who runs a madrassa, or religious school, in nearby Madyan. He exhorted ``true Muslims'' to mass and prepare to go to Afghanistan -- to repel any U.S. ground incursions.
How they will get there, and what they will do upon arrival, is uncertain. Their way station before entering Afghanistan is Bajur, a borderland tribal village where volunteers from different area will come together this weekend.
And the cleric's message -- that, despite its insistence to the contrary, the United States is waging war on Islam itself -- hits home.
``This is a strange occasion of world history,'' Mohammad said Friday. ``For the first time, all the anti-Islamic forces are united against Islam.''
All part of bin Laden's possible strategy behind 9/11.
Afghanistan has special significance to the world of militant Islam. It was once called Khurasan, along with parts of Iran and Pakistan. Muhammad said: "If you see the black flags coming from Khurasan, join that army, even if you have to crawl over ice, for that is the army of the Imam al-Mahdi and no one can stop that army until it reaches Jerusalem." That is one reason Osama bin Laden chose it as his base, or al-Qaida.
Mohammed's Prophecies
of the Imam Mahdi
Will Osama Appear In Pakistan?
Keeps your eyes peeled for jihadin carrying black flags.
I will inform Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Powell at once!
patent
I think we should start dropping body bags.
Just try to get a machine gun in America. It seems that Pakis have a lot more freedom concerning gun ownership than we do here in America. Look at the forms and BS people have to go through just to carry a concealed handgun for protection. It seems to me the US government doesn't trust its own citizens.
Omar Klampett declares jihad. The mental picture is just too funny. I wonder if he thinks he's getting virgins, too.
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