Osama alive and planning new jehad: Report

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Is terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden still alive in Afghanistan and initiating a series of suicide attacks against "anti-Islam and anti-Muslim elements"?<br /><br />A leading Pakistani daily has quoted reliable sources from Afghanistan as saying that bin Laden was present in the war-torn country and some days back he had a meeting with Taliban''s supreme commander Mullah Mohammad Omar and former jehadi commander and chief of Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in a "safe place" there.<br /><br />The troika agreed in principle to change their strategy on jehad and decided to utilise the experience of each other to initiate "a targeted jehad against the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim elements", the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Pakistan Observer</span> reported on Monday.<br /><br />The paper quoted these sources as saying that while it was decided that al-Qaeda would continue its series of suicide attacks against the "anti-Islam" forces (as bin Laden was in favour of that), Hekmatyar would initiate targeted jehad in the pattern of one initiated during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.<br /><br />Hekmatyar has an experience of such kind of jehad as it was he who had initiated the move during the era of former Afghan presidents including Noor Mohammad Tarakai, Hafeez Ullah Amin and Babrak Karmal wherein the enemies were targeted and then abducted by Hekmatyar''s men and most of them were later eliminated, the paper said.<br /><br />The troika also expressed concern over the US gunship helicopters, which according to them were posing a major threat as these war machines land in front of the houses/dens of the Mujahideen all of a sudden and the troops surround the area within no time and eventually net their wanted men, the sources were quoted by the paper.<br /><br />Sources said the troika is also in search of Russian missiles to combat the US helicopter gunships.<br /><br />The Mujahideen during the Russian invasion, it may be recalled, used to hit the Russian gunship helicopters with the missiles supplied to them by the Americans. The sources further said that by providing missiles to "anti-US forces" in Afghanistan, Russia might equal her score with the Americans.<br /><br />At present there are some 15,000 US marines in Afghanistan with 10,000 reportedly operating in the Kunar province bordering Pakistan. There are bunkers in the mountain ranges of Kunar, which are more than 100 feet deep and may be safe hiding places for the Islamic militants.<br /><br />The sources, according to the paper, disclosed that bin Laden, Omar and Hekmatyar have also decided to change their strategy vis-a-vis information. It is said that bin Laden always liked to publicise his activities while Hekmatyar went about secretly and never wanted their activities to come to the fore. The troika has, therefore, decided to operate secretly this time.</div> </div>