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BRITS DIE FIGHTING FOR TALIBAN

Adapted from an article by ANDREA BUSFIELD, in The News of the World

Date: November 4, 2001

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TWO Britons have died in Afghanistan — while fighting FOR the Taliban.

Aftab Manzoor and Afzal Munir, from Luton, were killed when a rocket fired from a US warplane into a Taliban base in Kabul. The men left their homes in the Bedfordshire town earlier this month along with at least two other Muslims to take up arms for the evil .

News of the deaths came as Home Office officials warned that British Muslims who fought for the Taliban or Osama bin Laden could be tried for TREASON. Until three years ago the still carried the death penalty in Britain.

Yesterday 25-year-old Manzoor's father, two brothers and sister left the family home in Luton to fly out to Pakistan where his body has been taken.

Shock

His mother was already in Pakistan visiting her family when her son was killed. Manzoor, a cab driver, had married a visit to Pakistan two years ago and had a daughter. Both mother and child stayed in Pakistan when he returned to Luton.

Akbar Khan, chairman of Luton's Building Bridges community group, said: "A sense of shock has hit the community and everyone is expressing their to the family.

"We are all very that two young men have passed away in such circumstances."

A Luton taxi driver who went to Challney High School for Boys with Manzoor said it did not surprise him that his friend had chosen to fight against the US for the Taliban. Saghir Ahmed refused to call Manzoor a , saying: "He was always a strong believer in his religion. Regardless of where you live, it's what you believe in."

Last night a member of Luton's Muslim community said Muslims from the town were regularly by the Taliban.

Lured

The man, who did not dare to give his name, said: "People have been going from Luton out to the Middle East for four or five years now. They are exploited and lured into the fantasy world where they are into believing America is evil."

As the fatal bombing raid that killed Manzoor and Munir was taking place on Tuesday, 20 armed police were a house in Feltham, Middlesex. A 16-year-old Iraqi was arrested after the officers allegedly found bomb-making equipment said to include explosive substances, electrical wiring, circuit boards and hydrochloric acid.

They say they also found guns, a fake Air Force pass, a manual showing how to build bombs and handwritten notes which suggest the boy was waiting for "jihad" — holy war.

Both the teenager and his father, an electrician from Iraq, were arrested and taken to Hounslow police station where they were quizzed by anti-terrorist officers. The teenager, who cannot be named, was held in police for two days but refused to answer questions. He has been remanded to appear before Brentford Youth Court next week.

His father is on police and still under investigation.

Last night a senior police source said: "Both Special Branch and Scotland Yard are being kept in close contact and are overseeing this case. The 16-year-old's father insisted: "This is all bullshit. We are both innocent."

Meanwhile, the war on the frontline took on another dimension yesterday as, for the first time, Afghanistan's Northern Alliance called up air strikes from American forces. US warplanes pounded Taliban forces Bagram airport, 25 miles north of Kabul, in response to for air support from Alliance leaders.

Bagram air base is one of the main military facilities in Afghanistan and it is said that whoever controls it commands the capital.

Attacks

It is currently held by the Alliance in the face of daily attacks from Taliban forces in the hills above. The US had so far avoided for them to strike Taliban forces, preferring to hit military installations in cities such as Kabul and Jalalabad.

Experts said the escalation in the allies' campaign could be in response to the execution of anti-Taliban warlord Abdul Haq. US bombers continued to Kabul yesterday, striking Taliban positions in and around the capital including an ammunition dump.

Meanwhile, several thousand armed Pakistani tribesmen crossed into Afghanistan to back the Taliban. They packed buses, wagons and pick-up trucks to reach Kunar Province, bringing with them weapons including rocket and anti-aircraft guns. Their arrival was seen as a boost to weary Taliban soldiers who have been fleeing Kabul.

Abdul Zaher, 52, who lives 25 miles from Kabul in Rabat, told the News of the World: "We saw two Taliban soldiers and their families. They had the city and told us the bombs had destroyed so much. They looked very tired and very scared."

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