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Photographs of the suicide assault teams that struck in Kabul, Paktia, Logar, and Nangarhar on April 15, 2012. Photos from Voice of Jihad. |
The Afghan Taliban have released photos and videos of members of the suicide assault teams that attacked Kabul and the provincial capitals of Paktia, Logar, and Nangarhar earlier this week. The photos were released as the US and Afghan officials have blamed the Haqqani Network, a dangerous Taliban subgroup, for executing the attacks.
The images and videos were released yesterday in the Pashtu and Arabic sections of the Taliban’s propaganda website, Voice of Jihad.
The photographs show the Taliban marching and standing in formation. Some fighters are in military uniforms with masks or motorcycle helmets. Others are dressed in white and are wearing suicide vests.
The videos show the fighters sitting in front of a camera and announcing the reasons for carrying out the attack. One of the videos shows a clip of one suicide bomber speaking in English and another bomber speaking in Pashtu.
The Taliban said the fighters carried out the attack to avenge “the two great evil acts of the brutal American forces, one of which is the desecration of the Holy Qur’an by the American soldiers in Bagram air base, and the second is the massacre of Zangawat in Kandahar province,” where a rogue US soldier executed 17 civilians in the southern province, according to a transition of the statement by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The Taliban have claimed that more than 220 “NATO-puppet forces” were killed during the assaults that took place on April 15. The Taliban routinely exaggerate the effects of their operations. Afghan officials said that 36 Taliban fighters, 11 Afghan security personnel, and two civilians were killed during the attack.
The videos were released as US and Afghan officials have blamed the attacks on the Haqqani Network, the Taliban subgroup that is closely allied to al Qaeda and is supported by Pakistan’s military and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.
One day after the assault, Afghan intelligence officials said a fighter captured in Nangarhar had fingered the Haqqani Network as organizing the attacks. He later said that more than 200 fighters were involved in the attacks, according to Al Jazeera.
Today, Ryan Crocker, the US’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, said that “there is no question in our mind that the Haqqanis were responsible for these attacks. We know where their leadership lives and we know where these plans are made,” Al Jazeera reported.
“They’re not made in Afghanistan. They’re made in Miramshah, which is in North Waziristan, which is in Pakistan,” Crocker continued, referring to the Haqqani Network’s main base in the tribal agency that borders Afghanistan.
The Taliban have released and republished the Haqqani Network’s propaganda in the past. In November 2011, the Taliban republished a Haqqani Network video that commemorated its assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on June 28, 2011.
15 Comments
220!? What the…
Who in their right mind would believe something like that?
well the 46,000 Iraq injured soldiers are US own figures and how many thousands are injured beyond serviceable status… so a non serviceable soldier is as good as dead soldier for any army. infact a liability on people’s taxes even if returns homes cuz the contribution he could make back is not even break even to salary he takes because of his least skills in those roles.
This attack was supposed to be a much bigger. The PR campaign suggests they were planning on a big media splash.
@ Graham, unfortunately I expect a lot og their supporters in the tribal areas who no other news may believe them. Also most likely the nuts that live in our own countries and subscribe to their ridiculous ideology.
On another note can anyone tell me what the signs in front of the fighters say?
How many of them are Pakistanis?
We are obviously fighting Pakistan in Afghanistan.
How many Pakistanis crossed the border since 9/11?
“They’re not made in Afghanistan. They’re made in Miramshah, which is in North Waziristan, which is in Pakistan,” Crocker continued, referring to the Haqqani Network’s main base in the tribal agency that borders Afghanistan.
So when will these over priced forces stationed there and where ever get rid of that town. Sure there will be others like it if you get rid of that one but what is this out rage when these people have been doing this for a decades now, with slap on the wrist predator strikes? They hit us and dozens die probably more, we hit them and the death tool is always inflated, with no real achievement. No wonder that guy went nuts and killed those people, he got more done with his actions in that he sent a message. More than can be said of the Ambassador.
It`s not what we believe but what some half educated hick from the sticks or some poor street urchin believes.
They are the most incompetent group of soldiers if you can even call them that. Keep sending them, they make for good target practice. I wonder if they know some other guy is sticking it to there wives when they are gone and miss treating there children. Lol
THe afghan forces stepped up physically. Morally, the Taliban won. However, they didn’t do much damage.
“They came on in the same old way and we defeated them in the same old way.” – Wellington.
The photos that the Americans showed of the suicide bombers were of much better quality.
May all the Taliban suicide bombers be 100% successful in blowing themselves up and going to heaven…..in the middle of their own camps.
Look, dont fool afghans, we all know this is pakistan and ISI…why the hell americans dont stop ISI from killing innocent poeple…
They can put sanctions on Pakistan or any other province and it won’t matter! The fact is that all those people hate Americans. After 9/11 attacks people were celebrating in the streets yelling “Death to Americans”! Even the civilians hate us. So why should we care about them? All is fair in love and war. War is Brutal but necessary. Hit them hard and they will submit. No more holding back!
I was about five miles from the Logar attack when it went down, and had a friend fighting there. ANSF stepped up and definitely did a great job leading the counterattack against the suicide bombers there. Notice that of the non-Taliban casualties, there were no US military listed? ANSF reacted and fought back well. Please keep in mind that those 11 casualties they took were spread out among Kabul, Logar, and elsewhere. Not half bad, in my book.
About that 220 figure…we’ve got something over here called Afghan Math…even that doesn’t come close to reconciling the actual damage and casualties with the Taliban’s ridiculous claims.