Mullah ‘Umar has given the “green signal” for deadly attacks
Sorry, there is no real reliable source for this and I don’t have link. That’s why I am posting this in full…
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Mullah ‘Umar has given the “green signal” for deadly attacks
27th February 2007
Written by: Saljooq Ali
(Ummat News Article – Translated from Urdu to English)
For some people the Taliban leader, Mulla Umar, is a special being and for some people he is a suspicious being; nevertheless, all the Talibs hold a special place for him in their hearts. Their love for him is visible through their actions and their speech. According to the latest news from Afghanistan, Taliban’s will and spirit to fight against President Karzai and the NATO army has increased by two folds because they have received a written message and an audiotape from their leader Mulla Umar. In that message Mulla Umar has ordered them to fight against the Christian armies (i.e. NATO) so strongly that an example of such strength may never be found in history. The foreign reporters from MSNBC report that Taliban leader, Mulla Umar, who was hiding until now, has reached an important spot some where, and he has written a message to his field commanders telling them to start the fight against the NATO army with new deadly tactics....
Taliban Learns Tactics, Propaganda from al Qaeda
30 May Washington Times - Taliban Learns Tactics, Propaganda from al Qaeda by Philip Smucker.
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The Taliban has merged its propaganda and field operations with those of the global al Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden, say senior Afghan officials and the group's former leaders.
Afghan security officials say the association has enabled the Taliban to develop from a xenophobic, home-grown Islamist movement into a more outward looking force that is helping to advance al Qaeda's global interests.
While there is no evidence the movement that ruled Afghanistan until it was ousted in 2001 has abandoned any of the fanaticism that led it to ban singing, shaving and schooling for girls, the group appears to have fed off the larger global jihad to hone previously nonexistent media skills as well as new fighting tactics...
Hunt for 'traitors' splits Taliban
Good intel work + Taliban paranoia = COIN success in Afghanistan?
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Taliban insurgents fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been hit by a wave of defections and betrayals that has resulted in a witch-hunt within the militant movement.
The news has boosted morale among commanders of the Nato operation in Afghanistan, which includes more than 6,000 British soldiers. The British contingent has struggled to contain the insurgency in the country's southern provinces over the past 18 months. Last week saw renewed violence with a series of suicide bombings.
However, two of the Taliban's most senior commanders have now been killed after being betrayed by close associates. Up to a dozen middle-ranking commanders have died in airstrikes or other operations by Afghan, Nato or Pakistani forces based on precise details of their movements received from informers. Few details have been publicly released, but senior military sources speak of 'major hits' that they wish they could talk about openly.
The successes may be the result of the more sophisticated strategy now employed by coalition, Afghan and Pakistani forces, say observers. 'There have been desultory efforts over several years to penetrate the Taliban and to play off the various factions within the militancy and along the frontier against each other, but now that has become the keystone of the intelligence effort,' said one Pakistan-based source. 'That's paying off ...'
Additional details.
Taliban Shifts Tactics, NATO Says
31 May USA Today - Taliban Shifts Tactics, NATO Says by Jim Michaels.
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The Taliban is increasingly turning to deadly roadside bombs and suicide attacks in its fight against NATO forces in Afghanistan, allied commanders say.
Taliban leaders have adjusted tactics in response to successful NATO ground and air offensives, they say.
"They're making choices because they realize on the security operations they can't compete" with NATO and a separate U.S.-led coalition force, said Army Gen. John Craddock, commander of NATO forces, on a visit here this week. Those offensives have made the Taliban reluctant to engage allied forces in conventional battles.
Attacks using homemade bombs called improvised explosive devices (IEDs) will become even more frequent and deadly, said Lt. Col. Ray Lane, an Irish officer who leads NATO's anti-IED efforts. "We'll see an increase in the technology."...
Gates Cautious About Gains in Afghanistan
4 June NY Times - Gates Cautious About Gains in Afghanistan by Mark Mazzetti.
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Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here in the Afghan capital on Sunday, expressing guarded optimism about the progress of the military campaign against a resurgent Taliban.
Evidence is mounting that Taliban fighters are using sophisticated new weaponry, possibly smuggled into the country from Iran. The Taliban have also stepped up the number of suicide attacks aimed at destabilizing Afghanistan’s still fragile government.
Still, American officials say they believe that NATO forces have inflicted significant losses on the Taliban and add that the pace of combat operations and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan — while slow — remains steady...
Pakistan's Taliban Fight Each Other
2 July Christian Science Monitor - Pakistan's Taliban Fight Each Other by Behroz Khan and David Montero.
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It's not only the Pakistani military and the occasional US Predator drone that has Pakistan-based Taliban looking over their shoulders these days. As a sharp internal rift emerges over attacks on civilians, some are now turning their guns on each other.
Last month, Qari Hussain Ahmad, a militant leader, launched a series of violent attacks throughout Pakistan's tribal belt that left many innocent civilians dead. On June 1, in retaliation, reigning Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud captured 17 of Mr. Ahmad's men and threatened to kill them.
The incident highlights how the Taliban's ideological frontiers have changed as Pakistani militants have regrouped and realigned their allegiances, leading to internecine violence throughout the tribal belt.
The Taliban's central leadership in Pakistan is weakening, experts say, and some factions have proven themselves all too willing to dispense with the ancient Pashtun codes of mercy and restraint – the kind that saw guests, women, and children as off-limits in war.
Even Mullah Omar, the spiritual founder of the original Taliban movement, lamented this ruthless shift in a letter to field commanders last December, imploring them to do more to avoid civilian deaths...
Taliban going for specific countries for politics
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/hti.../20070704.aspx
Canadian Sunset
July 4, 2007: The Taliban strategy of killing certain foreign troops, for the purpose of changing political opinion back home, has made enough progress to encourage the terrorists. Since 2002, 60 Canadian troops have been killed in Afghanistan. But the United States, with about ten times as many troops in the country during that period, has only lost 337. That means Canada has a casualty rate about 80 percent higher than the U.S. Most of the Canadian losses have occurred during offensive operations, when the Taliban were being sought out and attacked. But the Taliban have openly talked about aiming their suicide bomber and roadside bomb attacks at Canadians, in order to persuade more Canadian voters to demand that Canadian troops be pulled out of Afghanistan. It's having some effect, as the Canadian prime minister recently agreed that there would have to be a consensus in Canada over whether to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2009. An added problem for Canadian politicians is the reluctance of so many other NATO nations to allow their troops to engage in combat. Nations like Germany will only allow their troops to operate in parts of Afghanistan that are largely free of Taliban violence. This has been difficult to justify to Canadian voters. The Taliban know this, and try to make the most of it.
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Canada lost 6 good people today. :(
This will get a lot worse when the Vandoos get there :mad:
Taliban Have Internet Too...
Welcome to the technology age where your foe has access to "up-to-the-minute" news from your home country via the worldwide web. They realize as any good student of irregular/guerilla warfare does that popular support or lack there of is instrumental in your strategy against a western foe. Al-Qaeda's #2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is no slouch in his guerilla studies and has long promulgated the specific targeting of Americans and other westerners such as Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Kiwi's....he knows all too well that public support at home (whether in U.S., Canada, or U.K.) for an unpopular war will cause a change in political course over time. He also plays this in reverse and uses the killing of civilians as a launchpad for further criticism of allied actions in Afghanistan. This will most suredly cause Karazai to try and place further restrictions on our operations to defeat the Taliban threat in the southern provinces.
In Department of Defense circles there is a lot of talk about Information Operations or IO, and for the life of me I can't understand how we as westerners are losing this fight. If there is one thing we love and that is our media outlets, especially television. I think it is shameful that our government does such a poor job a garnering its citizens' support for these wars. I understand not being able to reach an audience in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but for the life of me I can't understand how we fail here at home!?!?
