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Afghanistan gets its own al-Zarqawi

Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the fanatic in charge of Taliban’s new campaign, is fast becoming to Afghan what Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was to Iraq.

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KABUL: Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the ruthless fanatic in charge of the Taliban’s new campaign, is fast becoming to Afghanistan what Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was to Iraq.

Just like Zarqawi, his starring role in propaganda DVDs has successfully drawn in scores of suicide bombers and thousands of fighters to the cause. And just like Zarqawi, his fondness for beheadings means his followers fear him almost as much as his enemies.

The black-turbaned one-legged Mullah, solemnly signs slips of paper and hands these to the young fighters sitting beside him. These turn out to be the recipients’ own death warrant: the slips identify them as “Suicide Bomber No.....” Off goes yet another volunteer to die in the Taliban’s increasingly savage campaign against coalition troops in Afghanistan. But the Mullah, who sends him on his way remains alive and very dangerous.

Dadullah has developed almost mythological status among his compatriots, which is partly why he was dispatched by the Taliban leadership to front the current recruitment campaign for jihad in the seminaries of northern Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.

Recruitment DVDs on sale across Afghanistan and Pakistan show the one-legged guerrilla commander in various poses — blasting a target with a heavy machine gun, dishing out blessings and ordaining a succession of would-be “martyrs”.

Dadullah boasts that he has 200 suicide bombers awaiting his orders as well as 12,000 fighters on the ground.

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