Security
Afghanistan: Suicide attack marks new offensive, says Taliban
Karachi, 29 April (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The Taliban has warned that Tuesday's deadly suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan will be followed by other attacks in a new spring offensive.
A senior Taliban commander told Adnkronos International (AKI) said the latest attack was part of its new 2008 campaign.
A suicide bomber on Tuesday killed at least 18 people and wounded 14 others in the Khogyani district, south of the city of Jalalabad in the Afghan province of Nangarhar.
"This is the beginning of the spring offensive 2008 and the province of Nangarhar shall be the main focus," said Qari Bilal Ahmadi, a Taliban commander in the Tora Bora mountains near the Pakistani border.
Ahmadi spoke to AKI from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
"Our group under the command of Anwarul Haq Mujahid has already occupied the Tora Bora mountains and now we shall spread our attacks up to Jalalabad (the provincial capital)," Ahmadi told AKI.
Ahmadi is a member of the group led by Anwarul Haq Mujahid, one of a new generation of warlords allied with the Taliban. These new leaders have emerged as NATO-led forces killed many top Taliban commanders in 2007.
Mujahid is the son of the late Moulvi Younus Khalis, who was a mujahadeen legend in Afghanistan against Soviet forces. He has emerged as a strongman, allied with the Taliban, in the province of Nangarhar.
The late Moulvi Younus Khalis had announced that he would join hands with the Taliban-led insurgency back in 2005 and then died one year later.
After his death, his son, Anwarul Haq Mujahid, emerged as the main warlord in Khogiani district. Soon he also made the Tora Bora mountains his base and has on several occasions repelled US attacks in the area.
NATO-led forces have also declared Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, as the number one threat to Afghan security. Jalaluddin Haqqani, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is also a legendary Afghan Taliban commander.
Sunday's Taliban attack at an Afghan national day military parade in central Kabul which targeted President Hamid Karzai, was also believed to have been carried out by Sirajuddin Haqqani's group with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami network.
Hekmatyar is a fugitive pro-Taliban insurgent leader wanted by the United States.
Both groups include veteran Afghan mujahadeen which fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and are now allied with the Taliban.
Reports on Tuesday said that officials and villagers were attending an anti-drugs meeting in Jalalabad when the bomber struck the city.
Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium and officials say the lucrative trade is partly reponsible for funding an insurgency led by the Taliban.
In a statement released on Tuesday the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan condemned the latest suicide attack, noting that "the circumstances of this attack illustrate the unmistakable bonds of partnership between terrorists and drug traffickers."
A senior Taliban commander told Adnkronos International (AKI) said the latest attack was part of its new 2008 campaign.
A suicide bomber on Tuesday killed at least 18 people and wounded 14 others in the Khogyani district, south of the city of Jalalabad in the Afghan province of Nangarhar.
"This is the beginning of the spring offensive 2008 and the province of Nangarhar shall be the main focus," said Qari Bilal Ahmadi, a Taliban commander in the Tora Bora mountains near the Pakistani border.
Ahmadi spoke to AKI from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
"Our group under the command of Anwarul Haq Mujahid has already occupied the Tora Bora mountains and now we shall spread our attacks up to Jalalabad (the provincial capital)," Ahmadi told AKI.
Ahmadi is a member of the group led by Anwarul Haq Mujahid, one of a new generation of warlords allied with the Taliban. These new leaders have emerged as NATO-led forces killed many top Taliban commanders in 2007.
Mujahid is the son of the late Moulvi Younus Khalis, who was a mujahadeen legend in Afghanistan against Soviet forces. He has emerged as a strongman, allied with the Taliban, in the province of Nangarhar.
The late Moulvi Younus Khalis had announced that he would join hands with the Taliban-led insurgency back in 2005 and then died one year later.
After his death, his son, Anwarul Haq Mujahid, emerged as the main warlord in Khogiani district. Soon he also made the Tora Bora mountains his base and has on several occasions repelled US attacks in the area.
NATO-led forces have also declared Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, as the number one threat to Afghan security. Jalaluddin Haqqani, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is also a legendary Afghan Taliban commander.
Sunday's Taliban attack at an Afghan national day military parade in central Kabul which targeted President Hamid Karzai, was also believed to have been carried out by Sirajuddin Haqqani's group with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami network.
Hekmatyar is a fugitive pro-Taliban insurgent leader wanted by the United States.
Both groups include veteran Afghan mujahadeen which fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and are now allied with the Taliban.
Reports on Tuesday said that officials and villagers were attending an anti-drugs meeting in Jalalabad when the bomber struck the city.
Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium and officials say the lucrative trade is partly reponsible for funding an insurgency led by the Taliban.
In a statement released on Tuesday the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan condemned the latest suicide attack, noting that "the circumstances of this attack illustrate the unmistakable bonds of partnership between terrorists and drug traffickers."
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