December 19, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 8, 1428

KANDAHAR, Dec 18: Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar vowed on Tuesday to keep fighting throughout the winter and attack Afghan and international troops who drove his forces from a southern town last week.

In a message to mark the Eidul Adha holiday, the militant chief said there would be no rest for troops in Musa Qala, which the Taliban held for 10 months before its recapture.

“We’ll not allow rest for invading forces in Musa Qala. Our mujahideen are still around the villages,” Omar said in a statement which was read to newsmen over the phone by one of his spokesmen.

“We’ve supplied our fronts across Afghanistan. We’ll continue to attack the invading forces and their Afghan servants throughout the winter,” the statement said.

The United States has placed a multi-million dollar bounty on the head of Omar, whose Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when the US drove them out for refusing to turn over Osama bin Laden after the Sept 11 attacks.

Since then, the hardline Islamic militia have been waging an increasingly bloody insurgency in Afghanistan that has left more than 6,000 people dead this year alone. Most of the dead have been Taliban fighters.

Thousands of Afghan military forces backed by Nato-led troops entered the troubled town of Musa Qala in southern Helmand province, the main Taliban stronghold, and pushed the militants out last week.

“The enemy has been defeated,” Omar said in his statement.

“But to totally defeat them and force them out of our country, we all need to give sacrifice,” he said. “Eidul Adha means (festival of the) sacrifice, and this is the time to sacrifice for our country.” —AFP