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Taleban not finished yet: German intelligence

Manik Mehta in Berlin

Germany's intelligence agency has said that while the repressive Taleban regime may have been ousted from Kabul, the fight for domination of the Afghan capital has by no means ended.

Bundesnachrichtendienst, the intelligence body, said having fled Kabul on Tuesday the Taleban could be expected to strike back with even greater ferocity.

Dieter Kaundiya, a senior BND official, speaking on Wednesday in Wiesdbaden at the autumn meeting of the Federal Crime Bureau of Germany, held under the title Islamic Terrorism, stated that the Taleban would now resort to guerrilla warfare.

Kaundiya said the Taleban had strong support particularly in the southern part of Afghanistan. They also had adequate number of soldiers to continue their fight.

Some German security experts expect a 'dramatic surge' in Taleban fundamentalism in Pakistan following the onward march of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

"This would, in fact, pose a major threat to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He seems to have lost his credibility and is likely to face a hostile public which is increasingly viewing him with suspicion," said a German official on condition of anonymity.

The BND official also referred to the whereabouts of terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden whom the Taleban still continued to provide protection against surging Northern Alliance troops and the US soldiers who have the mandate to get him.

Kaundiya said bin Laden may hide in 'islands' which were good hideouts. He, however, would not disclose any details about the 'islands' but many at the meeting said this was obviously a reference to small rocky island-shaped pieces of inaccessible lands.

Talking about the new possible targets of terrorist attacks, he said the Islamist perpetrators had in the past years acted according to 'certain logic'.

He said they had started with land attacks on US embassies in Africa, later switched strikes on to water when they attacked the US warship Cole in Yemen. The latest attacks at the World Trade Centre in New York had taken place from the air.

Indo-Asian News Service

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