Deadlier Taliban network surfaces

Fanatical wing of Al Qaeda-linked terror cells bolster insurgent attacks in southern Afghanistan

Feb 09, 2009 04:30 AM

MURRAY BREWSTER
THE CANADIAN PRESS

KANDAHAR–A fanatical wing of the Taliban, with strong links to Al Qaeda, has moved into southern Afghanistan.

The Haqqani network is operating in Kandahar alongside more traditional Taliban elements, say U.S., Afghan and Canadian officials.

The group of hardcore, highly trained terrorist cells claimed responsibility for last year's attempted assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the deadly attack on Kabul's Serena Hotel.

The organization is headed by the elderly Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former CIA favourite, now considered a rogue commander who has turned his sights on American and NATO forces.

His son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, with a $200,000 (U.S.) bounty on his head, controlled most of the Taliban combat elements in mountain passes of eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistani border. But his influence crept south last year, officials say.

"We have been told they are here and Al Qaeda is with them," said Haji Aga Lalai, director of Kandahar's Peace and Reconciliation Office, which tries to convince Taliban fighters to turn themselves in for land, houses and money.

The Canadian military declined to comment, but documents obtained under access to information laws show as early as last spring, the army realized a more dangerous foe had stepped onto the battlefield.

The first indication came on March 2, 2008, when Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze was killed in well co-ordinated attacks.

The documents, obtained by federal New Democrats and The Canadian Press, speculate the attacks were carried out by someone new and point to a "possible transition" in insurgent tactics.

Within weeks, Canadian troops were fighting intense, up-close battles with Taliban fighters who had previously preferred remotely detonated roadside bombs.

Canadians were used to battling a tough but ragtag band of undisciplined fighters who routinely emptied their AK-47 magazines in one burst of ill-aimed fire. But now they're up against seasoned fighters who knew most of the ambush tricks and don't flinch in a firefight.

Sean Maloney, a professor of history at the Royal Military College in Kingston, said the change is an indicator that the Haqqanis, Al Qaeda and other hard-liners have taken a greater hand in training fighters.

They've stepped in to southern Afghanistan because NATO had killed off some many senior and mid-level Taliban commanders, creating a leadership vacuum, he said.

"I think we're going to see more and more of this and I think it is specifically because of the affects of the previous year-and-a-half of operations," Maloney said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the Haqqani group had moved into Kandahar and nearby Helmand province to provide training and support – particularly in bomb-making – and to carry out attacks.

But Mujahid denied they had subordinated themselves to the terrorist group.

"We are all fighting for Islam," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Maloney said the Haqqanis are steeped in a hard-line Islamic movement; they have few ties to the local population and will likely fight "an unconstrained war."

Lalai has not heard of the Haqqanis being directly involved in specific attacks, but said he has his own indicator of their presence.

In the last three months of 2008, the number of Taliban who took up amnesty offers slowed to a trickle.

"They're scared if they get caught participating in the reconciliation program that they'll be killed," he said.