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Taliban getting foreign
help, says US general |
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KABUL: Foreign militants have imported sophisticated
tactics to invigorate the Taliban insurgency but Western pessimism
over the conflict in Afghanistan is unwarranted, the US general
leading the fight said yesterday.
US General David McKiernan said that non-native militants
were posing an increasing threat in Afghanistan by bringing
in techniques developed elsewhere and by providing training
and help in combat. Intelligence had picked up the presence
of Chechens, Arabs, Uzbeks, Punjabis and even Europeans, he
said. While some were old-time residents of neighbouring Pakistan’s
rebellious border regions, others were new arrivals.
“They provide a certain degree of facilitation and in
some cases expertise to local insurgents,” said McKiernan.
American success in Iraq against Al Qaeda militants may have
diverted some recruits for the anti-Western cause to the Afghan
conflict.—Agencies |
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