Kabul facing threat from 'new species' of terrorists, official says
Associated Press
Oct. 22, 2003 07:10 AM


KABUL, Afghanistan - A "new species" of well-trained terrorist has infiltrated Afghanistan's capital, posing an increasing threat to the already shaky security situation in the country, the head of an international peacekeeping force said.

According to intelligence reports, the militants come from Saudi Arabia, Yemen or the Russian republic of Chechnya, Lt. Gen. Goetz Gliemeroth, commander of the 5,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, said on Tuesday.

He said many already have been caught or killed in operations along the rugged, mountainous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida operatives are believed to be hiding.

"Apart from, if I may say so, the typical terrorist, we've got a new species," Gliemeroth said at a regular briefing. They are "excellently trained and ... they also have improved technique at hand."

Yemen and Saudi Arabia have conducted anti-terrorist raids following repeated calls by the United States to do more to curb Islamic militancy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America.

Gliemeroth said it was unclear if the terrorists were working in tandem with a particular group.

"Whether al-Qaida or special envoys from (renegade warlord) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or representatives of al-Qaida, I guess it's a mixture," he said. "Against suicide bombs, there is no waterproof protection."

The German general said their intention was to bring the international terrorist campaign to Afghanistan. "Apart from doing harm to the integrity of the country ... they will try to infiltrate Kabul because it is the capital."

Gliemeroth refused to say what countermeasures had been taken against the terrorists or how many had infiltrated the Afghan capital. "If there are only 15, the damage could be tremendous."

Afghanistan's hardline Muslim Taliban regime was toppled by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001 for harboring members of al-Qaida, the terrorist network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

ISAF currently is confined to Kabul but the U.N. Security Council last week voted unanimously to allow the 31-country force to fan out to key cities in some of Afghanistan's most lawless provinces, where feuding warlords hold power.

Separately, an 11,500-member U.S.-led fighting coalition is in the country hunting down al-Qaida fugitives and remnants of Taliban insurgents.

In recent weeks, the Taliban rebels have stepped up attacks against government troops, aid workers and U.S.-led coalition forces, mainly in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The increasing threats to Afghanistan's security also affect its porous border with Pakistan. The Pakistan army recently launched large scale raids on the ultraconservative Waziristan region to crackdown on Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents, while coalition forces operated on the Afghan side of the border to trap the insurgents. Pakistan said eight suspected al-Qaida operatives were killed and 18 others captured, but it did not disclose identities or nationalities.