http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=375054&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23
Mullah Omar orders fighters to kill civilians, says Nato
Publish Date: Sunday,18 July, 2010, at 11:53 PM Doha Time
Reuters/Kabul
Nato said yesterday it had intercepted a letter from the reclusive leader of
the Afghan Taliban in which he calls on his fighters to capture and kill any
Afghan working for foreign forces.
If genuine, the letter marks a turnaround from a directive issued by Mullah
Omar a year ago when he urged fighters to avoid harming civilians even if they
had been captured. Reuters could not immediately verify the letter's
authenticity.
The appeal, which Nato said was picked up in early June, also instructs Taliban
field commanders to recruit anyone with access to foreign military bases in
order to obtain information on international troops, said Nato's spokesman in
Afghanistan.
"The message was from Mullah Omar, who's hiding in Pakistan, to his subordinate
commanders in Afghanistan," Brigadier General Josef Blotz told a news
conference in the Afghan capital.
The letter, which contains five specific orders, also calls on Taliban
commanders to fight foreign troops to the death and capture them whenever
possible as well as instructing fighters to obtain more heavy weapons.
One order in the letter specifically calls on fighters to capture and kill
Afghan women who are "helping or providing information to coalition forces".
Blotz said he was "100% sure" the letter was from the Taliban leader, although
he could not reveal how it had been verified in order to protect Nato's
sources. The Taliban could not be immediately reached for comment.
Omar, seen as the founder of the Taliban movement that emerged during the civil
war of the early 1990s, has not been seen in public for years. He is believed
to be in Pakistan. While other leaders are believed to be more involved in the
day-to-day command of the insurgency in Afghanistan, Omar is still considered
the spiritual head of the hardline movement.
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