- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
An Associated Press article from February 2007
"KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: An estimated 700 foreign fighters are operating in a key southern Afghan province where Taliban fighters took control of a town earlier this month, the provincial governor said Sunday.
The foreign fighters — from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Pakistan — are operating in three volatile areas of Helmand province, including Musa Qala, which fighters overran and have controlled since Feb. 1, Gov. Asadullah Wafa said.
He said the government was conducting negotiations with tribal elders to resolve the dispute..................."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/11/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Town-Captured.php
From 2001
Rashid, Ahmed, "Afghanistan: Ending the Policy Quagmire. "Journal of International Affairs, Spring2001, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p395, 16p
http://www.sfu.ca/~burr/Afghanistan/Ahmed~Rashid~(2001).html
"It must be noted that the Taliban are not an exclusively Afghan movement. According to UN officials and Western humanitarian aid workers in the area, non-Afghans make up approximately one-third of the Taliban fighting force, which can grow to some 25,000 men in the summer fighting season but decreases in the winter. They include hundreds of Arab militants from over a dozen Middle Eastern and North African countries fighting under the banner of Osama bin Laden; Central Asians fighting for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); Uighur militants from China; and a smattering of Kashmiris, Bangladeshis, Iranians and Chechens.(n6) Pakistan, too, joined in the fray and encouraged thousands of students from largely antiShi'a Pakistani madrassas to fight for the Taliban, including several members of Sunni extremist groups who are wanted at home for murdering Shi'as."
"Since the Taliban recognized the breakaway Chechen Republic in January 1999, young Chechens and their families have sought both sanctuary and training in Afghanistan. These developments have encouraged Afghanistan-based foreign militants to fight in Chechnya. In March 2000 Russia gave the first of several warnings to the Taliban that it would bomb alleged Chechen and Uzbek terrorist camps in northern Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Taliban drew the ire of Central Asian republics by broadcasting Russian language radio programs into Central Asia from Herat in western Afghanistan and by publishing inflammatory Islamic literature in six Central Asian languages. In response, the US and Russia set up a bilateral consultative group to counter Taliban-sponsored extremism."
"KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: An estimated 700 foreign fighters are operating in a key southern Afghan province where Taliban fighters took control of a town earlier this month, the provincial governor said Sunday.
The foreign fighters — from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Pakistan — are operating in three volatile areas of Helmand province, including Musa Qala, which fighters overran and have controlled since Feb. 1, Gov. Asadullah Wafa said.
He said the government was conducting negotiations with tribal elders to resolve the dispute..................."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/11/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Town-Captured.php
From 2001
Rashid, Ahmed, "Afghanistan: Ending the Policy Quagmire. "Journal of International Affairs, Spring2001, Vol. 54 Issue 2, p395, 16p
http://www.sfu.ca/~burr/Afghanistan/Ahmed~Rashid~(2001).html
"It must be noted that the Taliban are not an exclusively Afghan movement. According to UN officials and Western humanitarian aid workers in the area, non-Afghans make up approximately one-third of the Taliban fighting force, which can grow to some 25,000 men in the summer fighting season but decreases in the winter. They include hundreds of Arab militants from over a dozen Middle Eastern and North African countries fighting under the banner of Osama bin Laden; Central Asians fighting for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); Uighur militants from China; and a smattering of Kashmiris, Bangladeshis, Iranians and Chechens.(n6) Pakistan, too, joined in the fray and encouraged thousands of students from largely antiShi'a Pakistani madrassas to fight for the Taliban, including several members of Sunni extremist groups who are wanted at home for murdering Shi'as."
"Since the Taliban recognized the breakaway Chechen Republic in January 1999, young Chechens and their families have sought both sanctuary and training in Afghanistan. These developments have encouraged Afghanistan-based foreign militants to fight in Chechnya. In March 2000 Russia gave the first of several warnings to the Taliban that it would bomb alleged Chechen and Uzbek terrorist camps in northern Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Taliban drew the ire of Central Asian republics by broadcasting Russian language radio programs into Central Asia from Herat in western Afghanistan and by publishing inflammatory Islamic literature in six Central Asian languages. In response, the US and Russia set up a bilateral consultative group to counter Taliban-sponsored extremism."