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Taliban Prepares For Ground Attacks
By
Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent in Kandahar
KANDAHAR,
Oct 13 (IslamOnline) - After sustaining a massive round of air strikes by
U.S.-led aircraft on various Afghan cities during the last five days,
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has started preparing itself to face an imminent
ground attack on the war-ravaged country by allied forces, Taliban Defense
Ministry officials told IslamOnline Saturday.
Some
700 deaths have been confirmed during the last five days in Kabul, Kandahar,
Khost, Jalalabad, Kundoes, and Harrat.
Around
250 people have been reported dead and hundreds other injured in U.S.
bombing and missile attacks on Kabul and Kandahar Friday night, officials
said.
The
newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Taliban Forces, Maulana Jalaluddin
Haqqani, has contacted leaders of Pakistan's two main Islamic parties asking
for more trained mujahiddin (fighters) in order to repel a possible U.S. ground attack.
"Yes,
the commander-in-chief has contacted Qazi Hussain Ahmad of Jammat-e-Islami and
Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman of Jamiat Ulema Islam and requested them to help the
Muslims of Afghanistan at this critical juncture", Maulvi Najeebullah, a
Defense Ministry Spokesman said.
He
added, "The two leaders have assured the commander-in-chief that their role
will be the same as it was during the Russian aggression on Afghanistan."
He said
thousands of students of Pakistan's religious schools were ready to
enter Afghanistan and join Taliban forces any time.
"Pakistan-based
Islamic organizations have also assured us of their full support" he added.
"We are concentrating on the Uzbekistan border as we have confirmed reports
that the U.S. and its allies are planning to launch ground attack from that
side", Najeebullah said.
He
added, "Some 10,000 troops armed with
Scud missiles and other sophisticated
weapons have been deployed at the Afghan-Uzbek border and more forces are being
sent there."
He
said the Taliban government was not expecting ground attacks from Pakistan as strong
reactions from the Pakistani people and political and religious parties
would compel the U.S. to review such a decision.
The
power supply, suspended in the wake of air strikes Thursday and
Friday, was not restored in Kandahar and Kabul at the filing of this
report as cruise missiles and bombs have caused deep craters in various
parts of these cities, besides destroying power houses and uprooting electricity
polls.
The
Afghan official said that the Taliban were still expecting air strikes as the U.S.
and its allies had so far failed in hitting its targets.
"Our
military installation, by the grace of Allah, are completely safe as we had
already shifted our aircraft and other weapons before the commencement of air
strikes," he said.
He,
however, admitted, that both Kandahar's and Kabul's airports, and some military
installations in both cities, had been badly damaged.
But
he added the radar systems, which were also damaged in the air strikes, had been
rectified and are now functioning properly.
Power
supplies in Jalalabad, Harrat, Kundoes and Khost, have also been
restored after 12 hours of disruption, officials said.
"This
[ground war] will be the real war," Maulvi Najeebullah, said adding that
they are waiting for U.S. troops. "Inshallah [God willing], this time,
also, they will be defeated."
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