Free Republic

<p>September 15, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - Al Qaeda has launched a sophisticated Internet campaign to recruit an army of murderers to travel to Iraq to wreak havoc on U.S. and coalition forces. A terrorism research group which monitors al Qaeda's Internet communications has provided The Post with chilling details of the high-tech recruitment drive in which potential fighters are bombarded with religious decrees and anti-U.S. propaganda as well as training manuals on how to be a terrorist.</p>

<p>LONDON &#8212; Al Qaeda has begun a massive recruitment drive for volunteers to wage war against America and Western-friendly governments in Iraq, Central Asia and throughout the Middle East.</p> <p>Osama bin Laden's network has also published three electronic-books on its new Web site: two that detail its tactics and intentions in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and a handbook called "The 39 Steps to Jihad."</p>

The seeds of 9/11 thrived under the Taliban's regime of repression, reprisal and death KABUL - The road that led to Sept. 11 began on Sarak Darulaman, the long, broad avenue that leads to the ruined King's Palace in the west of the city. Here, within sight of the base camp for the 1,900 Canadian troops now in Afghanistan, lies a rusted-out, shattered bulk container, perforated with holes from bullet and cannon fire. None of the locals will go near the twisted wreckage, or any of the dozens of similarly wrecked containers scattered around the city: They know the story....

The long arm of the US “war on terrorism” employs remarkably tender gloves when it comes to Pakistan, the original backer of the Taleban movement that offered Osama bin Laden sanctuary as he plotted the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks ­ and the only state in the Muslim world certainly known to possess weapons of mass destruction. Billions of US dollars in military and economic aid have poured into the country since then, although, before the attacks, Pakistan was more often cited as a sponsor of international terrorism. It had backed ruthless cross-border insurgencies in Kashmir and India, developed a nuclear...

In Afghanistan, the war on terror is anything but over By Phil Reeves in Afghanistan 11 September 2003 Afghans are not easily shocked. Repeated invasion, decades of civil war and centuries of poverty harden a place. Yet the latest atrocity to hit this nation was stunningly brutal, even by their dismal standards. It happened early on Monday afternoon, a multiple execution by men determined to render it impossible for the international community to reconstruct or stabilise the country under the control of a US- supported government. Five local workers from the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghanistan (Dacaar) were bumping...

<p>GARDEZ, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters, paid and trained by al-Qaeda, are pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan, the top American commander in Afghanistan said Sunday. Lt. Gen. John Vines said the Taliban were trying to regroup and regain control of the country they ruled until ousted by the United States in late 2001. His comments to reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were the first confirmation from a top U.S. military official of reports of a Taliban resurgence out of Pakistan into Afghanistan.</p>

2 U.S. soldiers wounded in Afghan attacks Five government soldiers killed by suspected Taliban fighters The Associated Press Originally published September 8, 2003, 1:26 PM EDT KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Suspected Taliban insurgents killed five Afghan government soldiers and wounded two U.S. soldiers in attacks in the south and east of Afghanistan, Afghan and U.S. military officials said today. The attacks in three provinces highlighted the security challenge in America*s other war. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. John Vines, warned Sunday that Taliban fighters, paid and trained by al-Qaida, were pouring into the country from neighboring Pakistan --...

<p>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan &#8212; Hundreds and possibly thousands of Taliban recruits known as the "Sarbaz" &#8212; those who care nothing for their own lives &#8212; are involved in an increasing number of hit-and-run attacks against government and American troops.</p> <p>Among them are young men like Siddiqullah, 24, who despite his recent engagement has put his life on hold to wage a holy war on "infidel" forces occupying his country.</p>

Warlords wear out Afghans' welcome'Now anyone with a gun is the law' By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan -- Along a potholed road in eastern Afghanistan, Mohammed Jan points through a cloud of dust at a line of mansions that seem out of place in such poverty-stricken surroundings. "This is where the new, beautiful houses begin. They belong to the commanders. Their money is from drugs, from smuggling. They will never be caught. Their soldiers are working with the Americans," says Jan, himself a small-time opium grower. Nearly two years after the collapse of Taliban rule, ordinary Afghans like...

Almost two years after they were defeated, thousands join the Taliban's new jihad (Filed: 07/09/2003) Massoud Ansari travels with militia fighters around the Kandahar region of Afghanistan They are known as the Sarbaz - those who care nothing for their own lives - and they represent one of the greatest threats to the government of Mohammed Karzai and the international forces seeking to bring stability to the shattered country of Afghanistan. The Taliban, supposedly vanquished in December 2001 when American and Northern Alliance forces drove them from power, are reviving and fighting back across southern Afghanistan. Siddiqullah is one of...

<p>SHKIN, Afghanistan -- Far above the thick mud walls of the medieval fortress in Shkin, spy satellites and sophisticated aircraft search the skies for a stray electronic signal -- a coded radio message, a satellite phone call -- that might lead them to Osama bin Laden.</p>

Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001370005-2001380262,00.html KARIMULLAH is an Afghan who does not want to relate his war story. In a lan= d where everyone is quick to tell their tale, his silence makes him unique.= =20 He stood alone in the narrow midday shadows of the hospital courtyard when = I saw him yesterday, a mix of glittering fury and blank despair. He had hob= bled into the Red Crosss orthopaedic centre in Golbahar on Saturday.=20 Even among the other amputees, his injuries stood out. Mines can take off b= oth legs and both arms, or the limbs of one side, or,...

Anger as troops hunt Taliban in Pakistan By Ahmed Rashid in Lahore (Filed: 06/09/2003) Pathan leaders are furious over the launch of a Pakistani military operation in the North West Frontier Province to arrest Taliban and al-Qa'eda leaders fleeing fighting in Afghanistan. Helicopters were flying over border areas yesterday looking for infiltrators after thousands of troops arrived at Bannu air base in lorries. Reports that a small detachment of US special forces was also involved could not be confirmed.The soldiers have cordoned off Bannu, begun house-to-house searches in some parts of the city and launched patrols in the mountains. The...

U.S. Says Taliban on the Run, 70 to 100 Killed Fri September 05, 2003 07:12 AM ET By Yousuf Azimy BAGRAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it was pursuing remnants of a large Taliban force in the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan after killing 70 to 100 of them in more than a week of fighting. "We believe we have been very successful, we believe we have the enemy on the run," Colonel Rodney Davis told reporters at Bagram air base, headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. "From what we can determine they have withdrawn to...

Thursday September 4, 11:05 PM Afghan-US offensive ends with 124 militants killed KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - A major joint Afghan-US offensive against hundreds of suspected Taliban dug into the mountains of southeast Afghanistan has finished with around 124 militants killed, Afghan officials said Thursday. Up to 1,000 Afghan soldiers supported by US troops and aircraft had been engaged for more than a week in the major operation against suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda bases in the mountains of Daychopan district of Zabul province, 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Kabul. US-led coalition Special Operation Forces and 10th Mountain Division troops backed...

Taliban quit running, start returning By Kathy Gannon The Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Taliban are no longer on the run and have teamed with al Qaeda again, according to officials and former Taliban members. They say the religious militia has reorganized and strengthened since a U.S.-led coalition defeated it nearly two years ago. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan and espoused a strict version of Islam, are receiving help from some Pakistani authorities and disgruntled Afghans fed up with lawlessness under the U.S.-backed interim administration, a former Taliban commander said. "Now the situation is very good for us. It...

Afghan Govt Says Ousts Taliban from Dai Chopan Wed September 03, 2003 02:14 AM ET By Sayed Salahuddin KABUL (Reuters) - After more than a week of intense bombardment and ground fighting, Afghan and U.S.-led forces have driven out Taliban fighters from Dai Chopan district in the southern province of Zabul, a senior official said on Wednesday. Zabul's intelligence chief, Khalil Hotak, also said that authorities from neighboring provinces had rushed fighters to the borders of the district to arrest Taliban forces trying to flee. He told Reuters he had received reports of skirmishes between fugitive guerrillas from the hardline...

<p>QALAT, Afghanistan &#8212; Afghan and U.S. troops overran three suspected Taliban positions and pinned down fighters in a cave yesterday as fighting raged in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military and an Afghan commander said.</p> <p>American bombing echoed through the mountains as the troops tried to root out hundreds of Taliban holdouts who have offered fierce resistance for the past week.</p>

<p>LAHORE, Pakistan, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Pakistan's army had several officers in custody Monday on suspicion of links to Islamic extremist groups.</p> <p>The London Telegraph reports the fear is the security arm of Pakistan, a Western ally in the war on terrorism, has been compromised by Afghanistan's former Taliban regime.</p>

* US bombing continues * Taliban get 300 reinforcements * Hekmatyar’s aide held in Kabul QALAT: Afghan and US troops overran three suspected Taliban positions in the mountains of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, while American bombing echoed through the rugged region, officials said. Afghan forces supported by US troops and aircraft have been engaged for the past week in a major operation against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda bases in the mountains of Dai Chopan district of Zabul province, 300 kilometres southwest of Kabul. General Haji Saifullah Khan, the main Afghan commander in Dai Chopan, said US warplanes and helicopter...