Taliban claim Afghan Jirga security plan has been compromised

The Taliban claimed to have acquired the security plan for an upcoming grand jirga of tribal elders in Afghanistan. The loya Jirga, as it is known, is believed to be vital in deciding the current Afghan government’s policy towards American forces stationed
in the country.

The Taliban struck the last loya jirga, held in 2010, and have threatened to hit this one as well. Now they have boasted through a website that they already know the security plan. A map of the venue for the jirga and details of security arrangements were
uploaded on the Taliban website on Sunday.

The Afghan government and the international military present in the country, have said that the published document is fake.

The assembly, or loya jirga, is due to start in Kabul on Wednesday and will feature around 2,000 elders discussing Afghanistan’s long-term relationship with the United States. The jirga will also deliberate on efforts to bring peace in the war torn country.

The Taliban, who have been at war with the United States for over 10 years now and do not accept the government of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, have rejected the jirga and appear determined to sabotage it.

“The vigilant mujahideen of the Islamic emirate (the Taliban’s name for itself) have acquired the security plans, maps and other documents related to the upcoming supposed loya jirga,” the militant group said in a statement sent to media.

The Taliban claim the documents are accurate and that they were acquired “by means of its personnel embedded inside the enemy ranks.”

Afghanistan’s interior ministry dismissed the report as a “big lie”.

“This claim is false and is part of Taliban psychological war aimed at disrupting the loya jirga,” the ministry said in a statement.

“It’s a big lie,” the ministry’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) toed the same line and said via its official Twitter account that the document “doesn’t appear authentic”.

“If this doc (document) were real, why in the world would you let us know you have it?”

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Posted by Ali Ahmed on Nov 14 2011. Filed under Latest News, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry