June 24, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1429

KANDAHAR, June 23: Afghan authorities paraded two alleged Pakistani militants before the media in chains and handcuffs on Monday in a fresh attempt to highlight cross-border infiltration by militants.

The governor of Kandahar province said the two men were would-be Taliban suicide bombers, but one of the Pakistanis told journalists he had only entered Afghanistan to fight US-led invading Nato forces.

The public display comes just over a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai sparked a major diplomatic row by threatening to launch attacks on militants based on Pakistani soil.

“I came to Afghanistan for jihad (the Holy War) but am not a suicide bomber,” the alleged militant, identifying himself as Ali Ahmad in his 20s from the Pakistani city of Quetta, told journalists at the press conference in Kandahar.

He said he was a student at a religious school in Pakistan and was encouraged to fight in Afghanistan by a fellow student who managed to escape arrest.

The second Pakistani national, his hands and feet tied with chains and introduced as Abdul Zahir, did not speak at the news conference, which was hosted by Kandahar governor Assadullah Khalid. The two were arrested on Saturday in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak along with their Afghan guide as they were on their way to the troubled Zehri district of Kandahar, Governor Khalid said.

“The two Pakistani suicide bombers along with their Afghan guide were arrested two days ago. One of them, Ali Ahmad, has confessed,” Khalid said, despite Ahmad’s denial.

Separately, four men, including three Pakistanis, were arrested in a station wagon filled with explosives in the neighbouring province of Helmand, provincial intelligence chief Mohammad Naeem said.

Karzai’s government has been fighting back against a wave of recent activity by the Taliban, including an embarrassing mass jailbreak by militants in Kandahar earlier this month.

In the wake of the prison escape, Karzai said that the Kabul government would be justified in striking militant hideouts in Pakistan. Islamabad summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest against the comments.—AFP