아프가니스탄에서 축출된 탈레반 정권의 고위 사령관은 아프간 주둔 미군 및 연합군을 겨냥해 자살 공격을 자행할 태세로 있는 전투 대원이 200명이상 있다고 주장했습니다.
탈레반 사령관 물라 다둘라는 에이피 통신과의 인터뷰에서 그같이 주장했습니다. 물라 다둘라는 자기휘하의 전투대원들과 미국의 지지를 받는 하미드 카르자이 대통령 정부가 서로 화해할 가능성은 없다고 말했습니다.
(영문)
A top commander of Afghanistan's ousted Taleban regime says his group has more than 200 fighters ready to carry out suicide attacks against U.S. and allied forces in the country.
The Taleban commander, Mullah Dadullah, spoke in an interview with the Associated Press news agency. (The interview was conducted Sunday by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.)
Mullah Dadullah was quoted as saying there is no chance of a reconciliation between his fighters and the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. (He claimed Afghanistan's new parliament -- the country's first in more than 30 years -- is totally "obedient to America.")
A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, General Mohammed Zahir Azimi, dismissed the Taleban remarks as propaganda. General Azimi says his country's security forces are strong enough to deal with isolated and weakened bands of rebels. Suicide attacks have increased in Afghanistan in recent months, primarily in southern and eastern regions where U.S.-led coalition forces are hunting Taleban and al-Qaida fighters.