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Afghanistan

Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan working hand-in-hand with al-Qaeda in Iraq

2006-02-17

A convoy of U.S. military Humvees snakes along the dusty valley road, its occupants unaware they are being filmed from a distant hilltop. Suddenly, a massive explosion hits one vehicle, flipping it over and engulfing it in flames. The images were purportedly recorded in eastern Afghanistan late last year and appear on a militant propaganda video CD obtained by The Associated Press that gives a graphic indication of an insurgency that has adopted Iraq-style guerrilla tactics. The change has raised questions about whether local militants are simply emulating those destructive methods, such as roadside bombings, or if al-Qaida could be importing fighters from Iraq, where attacks have been considerably more sophisticated than in Afghanistan. An alleged Iraqi member of al-Qaida and three others from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were caught by Afghan security forces trying to sneak into Afghanistan from Iran this month. During interrogation they said a large group of fighters from Iraq was headed here, according to authorities in southwestern Nimroz province. "They're linked to al-Qaida and fought against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers," Nimroz Gov. Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad told the AP. His report suggested insurgents on two fronts in the war on terror could be cooperating to fight the United States, and that foreign militants operating in Afghanistan were entering not just from Pakistan as previously thought. In a videotape Jan. 30, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, said al-Qaida was waging war against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he threatened a new attack in the United States. "Who is pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, us or you?" al-Zawahri said in the tape, addressing Americans. The U.S. military in Kabul refused to comment, saying it doesn't discuss intelligence matters.

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Afghanistan

Iraqi insurgents arriving in Afghanistan

2006-02-03

Several Al Qaeda militants are coming from Iraq to take part in the insurgency in Afghanistan; a provincial governor said on Thursday after interrogating an Iraqi caught sneaking into the country illegally. The warning came amid an upsurge in suicide attacks, with the latest involving a transvestite bomber dressed as a woman who killed five Afghans at an army checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan. More militants were expected to be trying to enter the country, said Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad, the governor of the south-western province of Nimroz. He made the comment after interrogating an alleged Iraqi member of Al Qaeda caught while sneaking into the country. “There is a big group coming from Iraq,” Azad said in a satellite telephone interview with the Associated Press. “They’re linked to Al Qaeda and have fought against US forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers.” It was not immediately possible to confirm the information from officials in Kabul. The defence minister and a spokesman for the Interior Ministry did not answer their phones. A spokesman for the US military, Lt-Mike Cody, said: “We don’t discuss detainees or intelligence matters.” Rise in suicide attacks in recent months has fuelled suspicion that militants could be copying tactics of insurgents in Iraq.

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Afghanistan

al-Qaeda Leaving Iraq To Suicide Bomb In Afghanistan

2006-02-02

Al-Qaida militants are coming from Iraq to fight in the insurgency in Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Thursday after interrogating an Iraqi caught sneaking into the country illegally. "There is a big group coming from Iraq," Nimroz provincial Gov. Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad said. "They're linked to al-Qaida and fought against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers." It was not immediately possible to confirm the governor's comments with officials in Kabul. A spokesman for the U.S. military, Lt. Mike Cody, said, "We don't discuss detainees or intelligence matters."

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