BinZiad
31-08-2002, 11:02
Elusive Mullah `Umar 'Back In Afghanistan'
Posted on Friday, August 30 @ 15:04:57 ICT
Jihad in Afghanistan
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive leader of the Taliban, has secretly returned to Afghanistan and is living in remote hideouts in the south of the country, well-placed diplomatic sources in Kabul claimed last night.
Mullah Omar slipped back across the border from Pakistan several months ago and took up residence near his old base in Kandahar.
American special forces discovered him in the area as recently as last month only to lose his trail again shortly afterwards, according to the source."The Americans got a fix on him six weeks ago. But then they lost him again," the source said.
Senior officials in Afghanistan's new administration are also convinced that the Taliban leader is now living somewhere in Oruzgan, the remote and mountainous province north of Kandahar where he grew up.
While most of the Taliban's senior leaders are still in hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas, Mullah Omar appears to have taken the risky step of returning home.
US intelligence agencies have concentrated their search for him in and around Oruzgan, and have paid large sums of money to local commanders in the hope of receiving a tip-off.
Despite several ambitious operations involving helicopters and heavily armed US marines, the intelligence agencies have failed to capture the Taliban leader.
There is strong evidence to suggest that he fled in December last year, shortly after his regime collapsed. He is believed to have escaped from his compound on the outskirts of Kandahar via an underground tunnel which is said to be concealed beneath a small traffic roundabout near the compound's front gates.
"He got into the tunnel with two associates," one source claimed.
"The tunnel leads to the other side of the mountain next to his house. From there he got on the back of a motorcycle and disappeared."
The search for Mullah Omar has been hindered by the fact that few outside his Taliban movement have any idea what he looks like.
In recent years he had rarely ventured outside the home where he lived with his four wives and children. He travelled only at night, in a convoy of Toyota pick-up trucks with darkened windows.
"I think Mullah Omar is most probably spending most of his time finding a new hideout inside the country," Omar Samad, the foreign affairs spokesman for Afghanistan's interim government, said last night. "Some important Taliban figures remain inside Afghanistan."
Mullah Omar has shown an almost preternatural ability to outwit his pursuers.
American jets came close to killing him last October when he travelled in a yellow taxi from Kandahar to his former home in the nearby village of Singesar.
According to villagers, he got out of the car minutes before an American bomb hit it. His 12-year-old son was killed. The Taliban leader then got into another vehicle and drove off. [Note by Voice Of Taliban: Mullah Umar's son was not killed. This was verified by the Azzam News Agency.]
Source: Guardian
[Note by Voice Of Taliban: Mullah Umar, the Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once said in an interview
"I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God. The other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected. . . .The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled."
The American Military have failed to find him or Shaykh Usamah bin Laden, despite regular claims of being about to catch them. This illustrates the fact that technology and man-power alone, are no match for true faith.]
Posted on Friday, August 30 @ 15:04:57 ICT
Jihad in Afghanistan
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive leader of the Taliban, has secretly returned to Afghanistan and is living in remote hideouts in the south of the country, well-placed diplomatic sources in Kabul claimed last night.
Mullah Omar slipped back across the border from Pakistan several months ago and took up residence near his old base in Kandahar.
American special forces discovered him in the area as recently as last month only to lose his trail again shortly afterwards, according to the source."The Americans got a fix on him six weeks ago. But then they lost him again," the source said.
Senior officials in Afghanistan's new administration are also convinced that the Taliban leader is now living somewhere in Oruzgan, the remote and mountainous province north of Kandahar where he grew up.
While most of the Taliban's senior leaders are still in hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas, Mullah Omar appears to have taken the risky step of returning home.
US intelligence agencies have concentrated their search for him in and around Oruzgan, and have paid large sums of money to local commanders in the hope of receiving a tip-off.
Despite several ambitious operations involving helicopters and heavily armed US marines, the intelligence agencies have failed to capture the Taliban leader.
There is strong evidence to suggest that he fled in December last year, shortly after his regime collapsed. He is believed to have escaped from his compound on the outskirts of Kandahar via an underground tunnel which is said to be concealed beneath a small traffic roundabout near the compound's front gates.
"He got into the tunnel with two associates," one source claimed.
"The tunnel leads to the other side of the mountain next to his house. From there he got on the back of a motorcycle and disappeared."
The search for Mullah Omar has been hindered by the fact that few outside his Taliban movement have any idea what he looks like.
In recent years he had rarely ventured outside the home where he lived with his four wives and children. He travelled only at night, in a convoy of Toyota pick-up trucks with darkened windows.
"I think Mullah Omar is most probably spending most of his time finding a new hideout inside the country," Omar Samad, the foreign affairs spokesman for Afghanistan's interim government, said last night. "Some important Taliban figures remain inside Afghanistan."
Mullah Omar has shown an almost preternatural ability to outwit his pursuers.
American jets came close to killing him last October when he travelled in a yellow taxi from Kandahar to his former home in the nearby village of Singesar.
According to villagers, he got out of the car minutes before an American bomb hit it. His 12-year-old son was killed. The Taliban leader then got into another vehicle and drove off. [Note by Voice Of Taliban: Mullah Umar's son was not killed. This was verified by the Azzam News Agency.]
Source: Guardian
[Note by Voice Of Taliban: Mullah Umar, the Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once said in an interview
"I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God. The other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected. . . .The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled."
The American Military have failed to find him or Shaykh Usamah bin Laden, despite regular claims of being about to catch them. This illustrates the fact that technology and man-power alone, are no match for true faith.]