November 6, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 19, 1422

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KHAAR, Nov 5: The Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariah Muhammadi on Monday temporarily suspended the process of sending volunteers to Afghanistan.

The volunteers, who have been camping near the Pakistan-Afghan border in the Bajaur Agency since Oct 27, waiting to cross over to Afghanistan, were delivered a message of Sufi Mohammad from Jalalabad that the next group should wait for the fresh call of their leader. A group of 1,500 fighters was scheduled to leave for Kunar on Monday.

Maulana Ismail Khan, a leader of the TNSM, told Dawn that he at the head of a delegation visited Kunar on Oct 27 when the volunteers swarmed the Bajaur Agency to go to Afghanistan. “Our delegation held talks with Kunar Governor Maulvi Abdur Rauf and Nangarhar Governor Maulvi Abdul Kabir about the fighters intending to enter Afghanistan to reinforce the Taliban militia. They accorded permission to the volunteers and on Oct 29, 200 fighters led by Sufi Mohammad crossed into Afghanistan,” he said.

Sufi Mohammad held talks with the Taliban authorities in Jalalabad, where he was delivered a special message of Mulla Mohammad Omar that the volunteers could enter Afghanistan, Ismail said, adding that following the permission a group of 1,200 volunteers crossed the border on Oct 31. So far, around 7,000 fighters have reached Afghanistan, he remarked.

Maulana Ismail said that some 800 guerrilla fighters had been sent to frontlines in Kabul and Kandahar.

Mulla Omar appreciated the spirit of the Pakistani people to fight along side the Taliban, Maulana Ismail said. TNSM’s leader Malik Mahmood Jan told Dawn that another 30,000 volunteers from Dir and other areas were ready to go for Jihad. They are waiting for the call of Sufi Mohammad, he added.