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Pakistan army sponsored military-style training camps: US documents

A report pertains to the interrogation of Yemen citizen Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahab, who belonged to the 'Dirty 30' squad of Bin Laden.

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Pakistan's army sponsored military-style training camps where terrorists including a bodyguard of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden were given lessons in aquatic drills way back in 2000, secret interrogation reports of a Guantanamo Bay detainee have said.

The report pertains to the interrogation of Yemen citizen Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahab, who belonged to the 'Dirty 30' squad of Bin Laden.

The 'Dirty 30' squad  term is used by US intelligence agencies for bin Laden's bodyguards and other members of his security detail.

The detainee was arrested by Pakistani forces on December 15 2001 while attempting to cross the Af-Pak border near Parachinar, Pakistan after fleeing from Bin Laden's Tora Bora mountain complex.

The report brought out by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks said al-Wahab decided to travel to Afghanistan along with his pregnant wife, leaving Yemen in the middle of 2000.

They first stopped in Karachi, where he and his wife stayed at the home of Muhammad Iqbal, a friend of al-Wahab's father.

"Muhammad Iqbal had a son, Ahmed Muhammad Iqbal, who was a fighter with the mujahideen in Kashmir, PK (used to signify Pakistan). Ahmed Iqbal attempted to recruit detainee to fight with the mujahideen in Kashmir. Detainee informed Ahmed that he would not fight in Kashmir but would accept the training," the report said.

It added, "Detainee attended a 15 day military-style training camp in Pakistan sponsored by the Pakistani army. The camp concentrated on aquatics training and did not involve weapons training. The training consisted of swimming above the water while dragging a bag or a small raft, both of which were filled with rocks symbolising personal belongings and weapons."

Students at the camp were also trained on how to operate small rubber boats and were taught how to avoid detection by flipping the boat.

As per the report, al-Wahab had also later trained for an aborted al Qaeda operation in Southeast Asia to hijack US airliners and crash them into US military facilities in the region in coordination with September 11 attack.

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