Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Afghanistan

Russian video: 2002 Operation Anaconda. US Special Forces in Afghanistan

2023-06-28

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[ColonelCassad] A new video of the "Indigenous Council of Workers" has been released, dedicated to the actions of American special forces in the initial period of the Afghan war in Afghanistan.

Video is translatable

00:00 - Introduction
02:46 - Bin Laden clan
10:29 - Birth of Islamism
30:52 - Al Qaeda
50:49 - Taliban
01:03:03 - How Clinton saved Bin Laden
01:11:02 - Why Clinton saved Bin Laden
01:13:04 - September 11 attacks
01:25:34 - How the US overthrew the Taliban
01:46:51 - Tora Bora
01:52:08 - Operation Anaconda
02:53:45 - some Metallica

Link

India-Pakistan

Islamabad’s I-10 suicide bomber got training in Afghanistan, investigation reveals

2023-01-18

[Dawn] The jacket wallah, who went kaboom! in the capital last month got trained in Afghanistan before conducting the attack, Dawn has learnt.

So TTP or related?

Sources close to the investigation of the kaboom in the capital’s sector I-10/4 on Dec 23 said that the bomber received his militancy training in Afghanistan in 2022. After the training, he returned from Afghanistan in late 2022 and stayed in Parachinar in

Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
, they added.

Before reaching the capital on Dec 23, the suicide bomber moved different localities, including Hangu where he stayed with a controller who brought him to the capital in the morning at Pirwadhai Bus Terminal, they added.

The controller watched the bomber board a taxi and later he left from the spot, the sources said.

The investigation revealed that he was wearing a bag pack, carrying the explosives, the sources said, adding it is yet to be established whether the bag was given to him or whether he travelled with it.

After arriving at the terminal, the suicide bomber spoke with someone (considered another controller) on a mobile phone.

The whereabouts of this other person were traced close to the vicinity of the Pirwadhai Bus Terminal and he had been there since the past few days.

The explosive used in the suicide kaboom

was Trinitrotoluene (TNT), weighing 12kgs to 14kgs, the sources said, adding that in the past C4 (Composition 4, including RDX) was used to carry out similar attacks by local forces of Evil and terrorists.

The suicide bomber detonated the explosive by removing a pin attached with it, they said, adding that the Sherlocks found the pin at the spot.

The bomber was 22-years-old, a native of Khyber District, they said, adding that he was educated at a seminary.

So far the target of the suicide bomber was yet to be identified, they said.

It may be mentioned here that a police official and taxi driver, hired by the suicide bomber to reach the unknown location were martyred while four coppers were maimed in the kaboom.

Link

India-Pakistan

Police chief denies arrests made in suicide attack

2023-01-05

[Dawn] The capital police chief on Wednesday contradicted the interior minister’s claim, which he made on Dec 27, 2022, that four to five ~~bandidos~~ ~~bandidos~~ hard boys involved in the I-10/4 kaboom had been arrested.

In a presser, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Akbar Nasir Khan, while sitting besides Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, said the jacket wallah’s identity had been disclosed, however, details of the network involved in the blast could not be shared due to the ongoing investigation.

"The arrest of the network members is under consideration," the IGP said, adding that "investigations are underway and you will be informed whenever any arrest is made".

On Dec 27, a statement issued by the interior ministry stated that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, in an interview with a private channel, had said that those involved in the suicide kaboom in Islamabad had been arrested.

The minister further said the suspects had stayed in Rawalpindi after coming from

Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
, it added. The minister also claimed the arrest of handlers and said four to five people had been rounded up.

The police chief further said two persons were arrested in connection with a video that went viral on social media in which they claimed that the TTP had reached the Parliament House. Joint efforts of the Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
(ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) as well as the police of the twin cities led to the arrest of two persons, who are natives of Swabi and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar

...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
A case was registered against them with the Counter-Terrorism Department Islamabad, IGP Khan said, adding that they were in police custody on a seven-day remand. Their networks are visible on social media, and with the cooperation of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) efforts are being made to eliminate them, the IGP said, adding that the arrested persons were active on social media.

According to the FIR the arrests were made from Fatehjang Road following a tip from an informer.

They are active members of TTP and 500 grams of explosives, detonators and other items were recovered from them, it added.

Link

India-Pakistan

Suspects involved in Islamabad suicide blast arrested: Sanaullah

2022-12-28

[Dawn] Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday that the suspects involved in the suicide kaboom in Islamabad last week — that left a policeman martyred and several injured — have been arrested.

The incident, in which four coppers and two civilians were maimed, took place in Islamabad’s I-10/4 sector on December 23. The police had said that a suicide attacker, riding a cab, went kaboom! after the vehicle was stopped over suspicion.

The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain (TTP) had grabbed credit for the attack.

In a tweet today, the interior minister confirmed that the miscreants and their handlers behind the attack had been arrested.

"The taxi driver was innocent. He was hired by the suspects and had no involvement [in the attack]. The turbans moved from

Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
and stayed in Rawalpindi. We have rounded up four to five people," he said.

The development comes days after the Islamabad police formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the bombing.

According to the notification, the JIT was constituted under Section 19-A of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 to investigate the case registered on Dec 23 on charges of 7ATA, along with PPC Section 302, 324, 427, and 4/5 Explosive Act at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) cop shoppe, Islamabad.

SECURITY ON HIGH ALERT IN ISLAMABAD
Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Big Shirley was still trying to snatch Nunzio bald-headed. She was already halfway there...
since Friday, security has been beefed up in the capital city. Earlier today, Dawn reported that the Islamabad police have issued a "special" plan that introduces 25 temporary checkposts in the city and requires citizens and foreigners to carry their identification documents with them.

According to the security plan, shared on Islamabad police’s official Twitter, entry points of the Red Zone will be recorded via Safe City cameras while video surveillance of metro bus passengers would also be conducted.

Police asked the capital’s citizens, as well as foreigners, to carry their identification documents with them.

Authorities also warned of action over non-specimen number plates and unregistered vehicles, directing citizens to ensure their vehicles had number plates issued by the excise office.

Police said citizens who had employed unregistered local or foreign workers would also be investigated. They further appealed to citizens to inform authorities of any unusual activity on the 15-helpline.

This plan has been devised as Pakistain continues to see a rise in terror incidents in recent days, particularly after the holy warrior TTP called off the ceasefire between them and the government in late November.

Two days after the I-10 blast, the US embassy in the capital had issued a security alert, prohibiting its staff from visiting the city’s Marriott Hotel due to concerns of a "possible attack".

Moreover, Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...
, the United Kingdom and Australia issued separate security alerts on Monday, asking their citizens to limit their movement in Pakistain.

Link

Afghanistan

The Taliban's 100 days of solitude

2021-12-13

[NATION.PK] The Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
have been in power for almost 100 days; a timeline often used to test the nerve of governance. Since their storming into Kabul on August 15, on the heels of the world superpower’s exit, they have played their cards close to their chest. I’m neither a Taliban supporter nor do I approve of their yesteryear policies, yet I humbly acknowledge that they are a power to be reckoned with, and rightly deserve to be recognised as the de jure ruling entity of Afghanistan.

There are no spins involved. It’s high time the regional states, especially its immediate neighbours, as well as the major powers come forward to engage the political dispensation in Kabul. They have largely shunned militaristic-orientation. Though their foot soldiers carry an assault rifle, and almost all of them wear a beard and turban — and are in no mood to adapt the Westminster dress code, they have come a long way in at least settling down with serenity. They have done away with highhanded tactics against their opponents, especially the minorities and women. This episode of their inauguration stint is in need of being appreciated.

Afghanistan today is in the labyrinth stage. It is evolving to rise as a strong nation-state. Having expelled the foreign forces after a struggle or more than two decades, Afghans have at least cemented their nationalistic credentials. But they vanished. Despite being rich in natural resources, as well as an enterprising and hardworking populace, they are groping in the dark to build their war-devastated country from scratch. This is where the world community should play its role.

It’s time to shun prejudice against the entity in power, and realise the essentiality of dependence in inter-state relations. Failing a nation of 40 million, once again, by abandoning it is no option. While the resilient and war-weary Afghans can take on another episode of jingoism and go on to fight, even among themselves or with some new-found enemy—but this luxury cannot be afforded by any of the near or distant states. Pushing Afghanistan into a new circle of instability and warfare would be catastrophic.

This is where realpolitik comes into play. Pakistain, Iran, China and Central Asian States have a special responsibility to embrace Afghanistan. Russia, India, the Arab world and the United States too cannot keep themselves away. Engaging the landlocked country in conformity with the parameters of state-centrism is a must. For a while, all need to keep away their vested share of power politics—and let a devastated state be rebuilt.

Today it is the Taliban, but tomorrow it could be some other political doctrine at the helm of affairs. Thus the notion to discourage engagement is an anathema of sorts. It hasn’t worked, nor will it. The debate that there should be an inclusive government in Afghanistan is merit-based. But Rome was not built in a day. Nor anyone could have the audacity to dictate a foreign state on what it should or shouldn’t be doing in its political policy prescription.

American women waited for decades to get the right of vote, Commonwealth states still linger for credible democracy, and so do the Afghans to knit themselves in a pluralistic nomenclature. They are slow but certainly on the track. Putting the cart before the horse is no solution. Let the horse pull as much as it can in semblance.

What is needed proactively is recognising the Taliban to kickstart the process of nation-building. It will usher in peace and security in the region. If that is delayed any more, it could galvanise centrifugal forces and lead to cataclysm. The Taliban, anyway, are not going anywhere. They are there to stay as there isn’t any possibility of another Tora Bora bombing. The US stands exhausted and couldn’t risk any capitulation.

This boils down the argument to realism, ie, engage the political-militia and let the dynamics of geo-economics bloom daffodils. Opening up of the southwest Asian state is sine qua non for the success of CPEC and BRI, as well as CASA and TAPI—the multi-billion dollar projects awaiting to see the light of the day. The Taliban hold the key to realise them—and their staying put in Kabul makes them indispensable.

Link

Afghanistan

Al Qaeda/Bin Laden's Arms Chief Amin ul-Haq RETURNS to Afghanistan after 20 years

2021-08-31

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A close aide of Osama bin Laden has returned to his home in Afghanistan after 20 years of US occupation just hours until American forces finish their evacuation from the war-torn country by President Joe Biden's deadline, a video purports to show.

Amin ul-Haq, a top Al Qaeda arms supplier, returned to his hometown in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Monday just over two weeks after the Taliban completed its lightening fast offensive to take over nearly all of the country.

Ul-Haq headed bin Laden's security when he was occupying the Tora Bora cave complex. The two men escaped together when US forces attacked the complex, according to NBC.

The Al Qaeda leader was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011.

In the video, a car carrying ul-Haq is seen driving through a checkpoint amid a small crowd.

At one point the car stops and ul-Haq rolls down the window. Apparent admirers crowd the vehicle's passenger side, with men taking turns grasping and even kissing the top Al Qaeda associate's hand.

Two men take a few steps forward along with the slow-moving car in order to take a next to ul-Haq.

The car is then followed by a procession of vehicles carrying heavily-armed fighters, some flying the Taliban's flag.

Ul-Haq had been a member of Hizb-i Islami Khalis, one of seven groups that fought against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan.

He was detained by Pakistan's intelligence agency in 2008 but released in 2011, according to the Daily Telegraph - roughly half a year after bin Laden was killed.

'Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free,' a security source told the outlet.

Related:
Amin ul-Haq: 2007-08-24 Return to Tora Bora

Link

Afghanistan

'Vaporised' on a tuk-tuk: Two ISIS-K Kabul bomb plotters were killed by US drone strike while riding on the back of a three-wheeled motorbike in northern Afghanistan

2021-08-29

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] New information: The drones were operated from Nevada's Creech US Air Force base in the desert an hour’s drive from Las Vegas. It was launched from Doha, Qatar. Jalalabad is near the Tora Bora mountains.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistan denies ‘construction of US base’ on its soil

2021-05-26

[KhaamaPress] Islamabad on Monday denied reports of US military base construction inside Pak soil as international troops are working to pull out of Afghanistan

Pakistain’s Foreign Office in a press statement said that "there is no US military or airbase in Pakistain, nor is any such proposal envisaged. Any speculation on this account is baseless and irresponsible and should be avoided".

It was stated that Pak-US currently have an essential structure of cooperation in terms of ground and air-lines of communications since 2001.

According to the statement, no new agreements were put on the table in regards to the construction of the military base.

Earlier, Ariana News (ATN) in a report claimed US forces have already begun constructing a large military base across the "Durand Line" in the Shalozan

Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
area of Zazai Aryub district in Pakistain the area borders Paktia province in Afghanistan.

Paktia’s provincial council told the media outlet that "the base is under construction 8km from the Durand Line inside Pakistain and "supplies are being delivered via air and ground every day".

This comes at as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a telephonic conversation with General Qamar Javed Bajwa on discussed regional objectives and interests.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby in a recent statement said "during the call, Secretary Austin reiterated his appreciation for Pakistain’s support for Afghanistan Peace Negotiations and expressed his desire to continue to build on the U.S. — Pakistain bilateral relationship,".

"Secretary Austin and General Bajwa discussed regional dynamics and our shared interest in security and stability in the region," the statement read.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Biden administration to release Gitmo terrorist detainees but not January 6 trespassers

2021-05-25

[American Thinker] The Biden administration is set to release three terrorists from the U.S.’s Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Saifullah Paracha, a former Al Qaeda bagman and terror plotter who met with Usama bin Laden in the fall of 2000, is one of the three to be released. Paracha also offered up his textile company for Al Qaeda’s use. He suggested that AL Qaeda might use his company’s containers to bring chemical agents like sarin gas—and other weapons of mass destruction—into the United States.

Uthman Abdul al-Rahim, from Yemen, is another GITMO detainee to be set free. He was a guard for Usama bin Laden and was part of the "55th Arab Brigade" at Tora Bora. Al-Rahim’s brother is a member of Al Qaeda, and some of his buddies were responsible for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in October of 2000.

Abdul Rabbani is also scheduled to be granted freedom. Rabbani is a long-time friend of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, a fellow GITMO inmate, and the principal architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 innocent souls and injured more than 6,000 others. He is thought to have helped KSM plan the infamous attack—and probably one or more previous Al Qaeda acts.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Did the U.S. Government Hide bin Laden In Iran? Alleged Whistleblower Releases Evidence to Make His Claim

2020-10-21

The writer appears to be a Q true believer. She started writing about it for American Thinker here. We addressed Mr. Parrot’s claims a week ago here.

Strolling through the Rantburg archives when I possibly should have been doing something more useful, I was reminded that after Al Qaeda was cornered in Tora Bora, Al Qaeda split itself in two. Twenty to thirty members of the management council, led by Al Qaeda #3 Saif Adel, fled to welcoming arms in northern Iran, taking most of Osama bin Laden’s wives and underage children. The Shura consultative council, led by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, broke into smaller groups and wandered from safe house to safe house across Pakistan. Some of them were found and arrested along the way, including the big guy himself in Abbottabad. Former #2 Ayman al Zawahiri is still out there, no doubt just as protected by the ISI as ever he was. With so many allies, no American collusion was needed.

Details from our files:
Northern Iran contingent: 20-30 Al Qaeda senior members of the management council including Saif Adel (AlQ #3 and operations chief), Suleiman Abu Ghaith (info chief, spokesmen), AlQ CFO Shaik Said, AlQ personnel director Abu Hafs, Abu Dahak (Yemeni, AlQ ambassador to the Chechen rebels), Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, two of bin Laden's teenage sons — Saad (drone zapped in Pakistan in 2009) and Hamza (killed in AfPak in 2019) — plus three Osama bin Laden wives and about 20 offspring. Iran Al Quds unit supported Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad and OBL’s Al Qaeda starting in about 1990 with significant weapons and logistics support and training. So they were very happy to put their clients under “house arrest” to keep the Americans off their backs. OBL’s youngest wife rejoined him in Pakistan in 2002, the two middle ones wandered back later.

Pakistan contingent: the Shura consultative council included Osama bin Laden and #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri along with Abu Zubaydah (recruitment and training leader arrested in Faisalabad), Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (Balochi, operations commander grabbed in Rawalpindi) and two of his deputies: Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Abu Faraj al Libbi (taken in Karachi and Multan). The ISI carefully has not noticed them or their supporters, even when they were neighbours in the military town of Abbotabad.

OBL’s first wife, Najwa bin Laden, left Afghanistan for her family in Damascus before 9/11, taking her handicapped son, but leaving most of the rest of her eleven children with their father.

[AmericanThinker] Alan Howell Parrot is an unusual character with a flowing gray beard and wizard’s turban who looks like he popped out of a movie. Born in Maine, he followed his fascination with falcons to the Middle East, serving as Chief Falconer to the Shah of Iran and organizing falconry hunts for the royal families of Saudi Arabia. His falconry skills often brought him into Iran, where he says he met Osama bin Laden six times. Parrot claims that both George W. Bush and Barack Obama were fully aware that bin Laden and more than 100 of his top Al Qaeda fighters were sheltering in Iran, along with their families. And he’s now released documents to support his claim, including an audio recording, that he has not denied, of Joe Biden's attorney admitting that Osama bin Laden was being kept in Iran as part of a deal with the U.S government.

For years, Parrot tried to alert the public about his disturbing experience with American intelligence agencies that he says refused to take action against bin Laden’s encampment. "John Brennan and Clinton and Biden outsourced the imprisonment of Al Qaeda leaders to Iran," Parrot recently told Charles Woods, father of fallen Benghazi hero Tyrone Woods. (You can watch their conversation here.) "My team planned a program to go in and get bin Laden in Iran. We were going to catch him while he was falconry hunting."

According to Parrot, U.S. intelligence agencies first ignored, then obstructed, and finally threatened him, warning they would alert the Iranians if he attempted to capture bin Laden. Eventually, Parrot says, Hillary Clinton arranged to move bin Laden to Pakistan for a "trophy kill" to ensure Obama’s reelection. In 2010, Parrott made a movie, "Feathered Cocaine," about his encounters with bin Laden, which was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. (Here’s the trailer.) In 2011, his lawyer, John Loftus, alleged more details of U.S. intelligence’s complicity in sheltering bin Laden in an article that included this intriguing tidbit: "My friend laughed and said, "Don’t you get it, John? The last thing they want is for anyone to capture bin Laden alive. Think of what he could say on the stand in a public trial." I didn’t believe him at first."

Last week, Parrot’s story started to get traction when Anna Khait, an independent journalist, published, via Twitter, documents and audio that she says Parrot had given her. The documents include a signed non-disclosure agreement between Parrot, Congressman Curt Weldon & Joe Biden's attorney (and fixer) Brian S. Ettinger, on information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden, letters asking why the intelligence on bin Laden is being ignored, and audio of conversations between Parrot, Weldon, and Ettinger, in which Biden’s attorney acknowledges U.S. government policy is to shelter bin Laden in Iran: "He is being protected by us. We don’t really want to get him...we want him under the radar screen because he basically made a deal with us that he’s not gonna uh...hit us here in the US." Neither Ettinger nor Biden has issued a statement denying it.

Parrot is not the only person making credible claims about bin Laden’s safe haven in Iran. Mike Moore, an intelligence expert and Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, came to the same conclusion after interviewing government intelligence operators, informants, and lawmakers. Moore notes that Robert Mueller was the FBI Director during these events and that John Brennan was "neck deep" in arranging the bin Laden deal with the Saudis and Iranians. Mueller and Brennan, of course, were key figures in the coup efforts against President Trump.

Link

Afghanistan

Two terrorists killed following a clash with ANP in Tora Bora area, PD12, Kandahar City

2020-05-14

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Last night, two terrorists killed following a clash with ANP in Tora Bora area, PD#12, Kandahar City. The two were involved in many targeted killings in Kandahar. pic.twitter.com/bBqNxJqs5Z
— Ministry of Interior (@moiafghanistan) May 13, 2020

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan Forces Hold ‘Full Control’ Of Key Highway In Southeast

2019-04-01

[ToloNews] A strategic highway linking Khost with Paktia province in the southwest of Afghanistan is fully under control of the Afghan forces over the past year while it was under influence of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
and Haqqani network

for five years.

The road, almost 50 kilometers in length, connects Zazi Maidan district of Khost with Dand Aw Patan district of Paktia.

Security forces are now able to travel by one vehicle through the graveled road, which is mostly rough terrains and has only one lane.

Dand Aw Patan is a district in Paktia which borders the Kurram tribal region of Pakistain. Zazi Maidan or Jaji Maidan is located in the northeastern part of Khost. It borders Bak district to the west, Paktia province to the north, and the

Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
of Pakistain to the north and east. The district center is the village of Zazi Maidan, situated in the eastern part of the district.

TOLOnews news hounds Tamim Hamid and Abdul Haq Omeri traveled with an Army vehicle to the highway where they met many Army soldiers who said the highway is under their control.

Noor Mohammad, 38, who serves in the Afghan National Army ranks in Dand Aw Patan district, said he lost one of his comrades in operation for clearing the highway of holy warriors last year.

"He had a marvelous personality and was a talented boy. May the Almighty Allah forgive him. He lost his life just in this war front," said Noor
Mohammad, remembering his friend who was killed in an operation against the Taliban.

Mohammad’s friend, Noorullah, an Army soldier, said that he has not seen his family for a long time.

"My family and the children are missing me. I miss them too," said Noorullah.

"They (Taliban) are preparing from now on and they place mines in some areas. Their preparations will increase as the weather is warming," said Zakaria, 29, an Army soldier in Khost.

Every soldier in the area has their own stories.

"I still have six or seven months to return home and get married. If peace comes, I will do it soon and I will not waste the time," said Baz Mohammad, another soldier.

The Nahri area, which is the connecting point between Khost and Paktia provinces, was the last stop of the forces. A year ago, they had had to fight the Taliban to get to the area but now they reach there in a few hours of drive.

Link

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