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Daily Times

* Ali from Quetta says he crossed border to engage in jihad, not to conduct suicide attacks

KANDAHAR: Afghan authorities paraded two alleged Pakistani militants before the media in chains and handcuffs on Monday in a fresh attempt to highlight cross-border infiltration by insurgents.

The governor of southern Kandahar province said the two men were would-be Taliban suicide bombers, but one of the Pakistanis told reporters he had only entered Afghanistan to fight US-led and NATO-led forces. The public display comes just over a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai sparked a major diplomatic row by threatening to launch attacks on militants based on Pakistani soil. Jihad, not suicide bombing: “I came to Afghanistan for jihad but am not a suicide bomber,” the alleged militant, identifying himself as Ali Ahmad in his 20s from Quetta, told reporters at a press conference in Kandahar.

He said he was a student at a religious school in Pakistan and was encouraged to fight in Afghanistan by a fellow student who managed to escape arrest.

The second Pakistani national, his hands and feet tied with chains and introduced as Abdul Zahir, did not speak at the news conference, which was hosted by provincial Governor Assadullah Khalid. The two were arrested on Saturday in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak along with their Afghan guide as they were on their way to the troubled Zehri district of Kandahar, Khalid said.

“The two Pakistani suicide bombers along with their Afghan guide were arrested two days ago. One of them, Ali Ahmad, has confessed,” Khalid said, despite Ahmad’s denial. Helmand arrest: Separately, four men, including three Pakistanis, were arrested in a station wagon filled with explosives in the neighbouring province of Helmand, provincial intelligence chief Muhammad Naeem said.

Karzai’s government has been fighting back against a wave of recent activity by the Taliban, including an embarrassing mass jailbreak by militants in Kandahar earlier this month. In the wake of the prison escape, Karzai said that the Kabul government would be justified in striking militant hideouts in Pakistan. Islamabad summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest against the comments. Afghan and NATO troops launched a major operation last week against insurgents holed up in villages outside the city, the birthplace of the Taliban movement. Afghan officials said 56 militants were killed.