Thursday, June 24, 2010

The German Taliban

PESHAWAR, June 22: A suspected German militant captured in Bannu on Monday had links with Al Qaeda, security officials told Dawn on Tuesday.

Raimi, said to be in his mid-20s, and his local accomplice were wearing burqa when they were detained at a checkpost.

One official said the man had been shifted to Islamabad for questioning, adding that the Germany embassy had been informed.

He said that Raimi had crossed into Pakistan illegally through Iran and stayed with Al Qaeda elements in Mirali in North Waziristan.

“He has been involved in terrorist activities,” another official said.

German militants have formed their own group called the ‘German Taliban’ and work with Pakistani Taliban. A Jihadi website recently said that the leader of the German Taliban, a convert who called himself Abdul Ghaffar, had been killed in a recent shootout with Pakistani security forces at Esha checkpoint in North Waziristan.

The Pakistani Taliban said a German man detained by Pakistan security forces near North Waziristan on the Afghan border, was their ‘comrade’.

“He’s our comrade. He was going somewhere,” Muhammad Umer, head of the Taliban’s media centre, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

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