Taliban Leader Emerges From Hiding in New Video
Haqqani says U.S. troops in Afghanistan are "scared and losing."
April 7, 2008— -- American troops in Afghanistan are "scared and losing," says Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Taliban's southeastern commander, who appears in a video statement for the first time after seven years in hiding.
Haqqani, a legendary mujahedeen fighter during the Soviet resistance in the 1980s, was reported to have died of illness last year in Dubai. He appeared shaky, but sported a Kalashnikov and long beard died red with henna. He made reference to a March suicide attack in Khost province, proving he is still very much alive.
"The Americans thought that with their developed technology they could plant the news of my death in the media," Haqqani said. "But as long as I am alive, I will raise morale of the mujahedeen fighters."
The video release, the most sophisticated yet to be released by the Taliban, contained graphic footage of a Turkish-German man preparing for and carrying out a suicide attack on a U.S. military post in Sabari, Khost that killed two U.S. soldiers.
The video appears to show Taliban militants filming the camp from high ground, apparently as they plan the attack, and then mapping out the camp on paper. It shows the bomb being prepared and installed in a truck, along with footage of the bomber, Turkish-German national Cuneyt Ciftci, kneeling in prayer and then smiling and waving before he climbs into the bomb-laden truck.
The explosion itself is caught on camera from the same high vantage point, showing the blast wave ripple through the village, and the plume of smoke and debris shoot up into the sky.
Haqqani appears to warn that more such bombings should be expected.
"We would launch attacks that would harm the U.S., NATO, their spies and supporters," he said. "Allah, the Prophet and the Quran have promised us that jihad will succeed. There are already signs of victory."
