Taliban commander vows bloody 2007 in Afghanistan & Mullah Omar threatens to intensify the war.

[schart28]

Reuters: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-01-02T111523Z_01_ISL148796_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-TALIBAN.xml&src=rss

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Taliban will step up attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan this year and kill anyone who negotiates with the government, a top rebel commander said on Tuesday.

Taliban fighters staged a surprise comeback last year with the bloodiest violence since U.S.-led troops forced them from power in 2001. More than 4,000 people were killed on both sides in 2006 including nearly 170 foreign troops.

Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah said the new year would see more attacks on NATO and U.S. forces.

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"Suicide and guerrilla attacks on NATO, American and coalition forces will continue and increase this year. The Taliban will inflict heavy casualties on them," Dadullah told Reuters by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.

Dadullah did not refer to the death last month of Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, the most senior Taliban commander to be killed by U.S. forces since 2001.

Osmani was killed in a U.S. air strike in the south, and another rebel commander, who declined to be identified, said earlier his death would be a blow to the Taliban.

About 40,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, some 32,000 of them under NATO command. They are trying to ensure enough security to enable development projects to get started.

Dadullah said the Taliban had used a winter lull in fighting to draw up new war plans to inflict maximum damage on foreign forces. Afghan fighting traditionally falls off during the bitter winter when snow blocks mountain passes.

"They will soon come to know about the Taliban's strength and war strategy. We will attack with such a force they will have no time to settle," Dadullah said.

The rebel commander ruled out any negotiations while foreign troops were in the country and threatened dire consequences for anyone who did so.

"Those who negotiate in the name of the Taliban will be killed," he said. He did not elaborate.

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The government has a reconciliation program aimed at persuading Taliban members to give up their fight and rejoin society but few insurgents have taken up the offer.

Some Afghan politicians have said peace will be impossible unless elements of the Taliban are included in talks.

A Taliban spokesman said last month the rebels might take part in planned tribal councils that Pakistan and Afghanistan aim to hold on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

But other Taliban members quickly denied there was any chance of the insurgents attending the councils. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was reported to have denounced the proposed meetings as an American trick in a message last week.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Blah Blah Blah Blah! :

 

[Kirkhill]

Those who negotiate in the name of the Taliban will be killed," he said. He did not elaborate.

The government has a reconciliation program aimed at persuading Taliban members to give up their fight and rejoin society but few insurgents have taken up the offer.

Some Afghan politicians have said peace will be impossible unless elements of the Taliban are included in talks.

A Taliban spokesman said last month the rebels might take part in planned tribal councils that Pakistan and Afghanistan aim to hold on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

But other Taliban members quickly denied there was any chance of the insurgents attending the councils. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was reported to have denounced the proposed meetings as an American trick in a message last week.

Looks all good to me from here.  Just like Kabul can't control the tribes neither can the Taliban.  Even with the threat of thuggery they can't control attendance.  That seems to indicate both a distinct lack of unity of command and unity of purpose.

 

[Magravan]

And the more that they piss off the locals, the more that the locals wonder exactly why they would want to subject themselves to this again... So long as we keep giving them an alternative, I don't see the Taliban killing the locals as a particularly bright move for the long term.

 

[GAP]

AFGHANISTAN: MULLAH OMAR THREATENS TO INTENSIFY WAR, RULES OUT TALKS WITH GOVT.
Peshawar, 4 Jan. (AKI/DAWN)
Article Link

The reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has said he will never hold negotiations with the US-backed Karzai government in Afghanistan and warned that "the war" will be escalated to such an extent that foreign troops are compelled to leave the strife-torn country and institutions established by them are dismantled.

"Foreign troops should at once leave Afghanistan and then the institutions they created should be dismantled. Unless this happens, war will heat up further. It will not recede," the Taliban supreme leader said in response to written questions sent to him through his media spokesperson.

In what his spokesperson said was his first interview with a Pakistani newspaper since the puritanical militia were driven from power in 2001, Mullah Omar also responded to criticism of the hard-line Taliban rule, his stated aversion to negotiations with the Karzai government, provision of shelter to -- and subsequent refusal to hand over – Osama bin Laden to the United States, a clampdown on girls education, his whereabouts and alleged support from Pakistan.

Careful not to criticise Pakistan's policy vis-a-vis the Taliban, Mullah Omar also denied that the Taliban resurgence was a Pashtun uprising.

He made a distinction between the ultimate goals of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to him, jihad is the goal of the former. And, he said, the Taliban were determined to drive American troops out of Afghanistan. He said the Taliban never felt the need for a permanent relationship with al-Qaeda.
More on link

 

[geo]

It's nice to see a fella who stays in hiding & exhorts others to do his fighting.
It would be sooo refreshing for the "fearless spiritual leader" to step up to the plate and verbaly duke it out with Karzai (under Pakistani auspices?).

 

[derael]

Hrmm, I wonder if he has some kind of relation to the Iraqi Information Minister...what ever happend to that guy anyway?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Time to send Jack in!! Of course he may have heard of Jack's offer to talk and is trying to make sure he doesn't have to meet him, can't say that I blame for that.