KABUL (Agencies)
Taliban insurgents have been instructed to kidnap as many foreigners as possible, the Islamist militia's new military commander said in an interview broadcast Wednesday.
Speaking to Channel 4 News from an undisclosed location along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Mansour Dadullah, who took over from his brother Mullah Dadullah killed by coalition troops in May, also said that the Taliban planned to use children to behead hostages.
He advocated kidnapping foreigners to trade them for Taliban captives -- Dadullah himself was released from prison by Afghanistan in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist earlier this year.
"Of course, kidnapping is a very successful policy and I order all my mujahideen to kidnap foreigners of any nationality wherever they find them and then we should do the same kind of deal," Dadullah told the broadcaster.
He added that the Taliban wanted to "give children a military education, we want to train them against cruel invaders and infidels, so when we need them they will join this struggle."
"We want to use children to behead infidels and spies so that they will become brave."
Dadullah also claimed that a "spectacular" outrage would take place in Britain, in the wake of three failed car bombings in London and Glasgow about a month ago.
He said that he was in close contact with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and added that between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, "we don't keep count of weapons, money or anything." ..."Our aim is the same. We help them and they help us."
The Taliban commander claimed that the militia held eight districts of the restive Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, which was denied by British Defense Secretary Des Browne.
"I would contradict the suggestion that the Taliban are somehow overmatching us in Helmand or are spreading their influence. They are not," Browne said. |
