Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 Source: Defense Week (US) Copyright: 2001, King Publishing Group & King Communications Group, Inc. Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1578 Website: http://www.kingpublishing.com/publications/dw/ Author: Mohammed Ahmedullah BIN LADEN'S FIGHTERS TRAIN HARD ON OPIUM NEW DELHI -- Osama bin Laden's troops have a training regimen as tough if not tougher than that of the U.S. Green Berets, the British Special Air Services and the Russian Spetznatz and they do it all on dope. So says an expert who has tracked bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist group for a decade. "Mild doses of opium are given to al Qaeda trainees to condition them to pain and suffering," said Najum Mushtaq, an Islamabad-based independent defense analyst with expertise in South Asian terrorism. "They are trained to survive without regular food for days. The training mostly involves use of small arms, setting up improvised explosive devices and wiring up cars for suicide-bombing missions." The trainees go through three to six months of theory and practice in situations of extreme hardship. This includes leaping from heights and firing in mid-jump; staying awake for several nights; target practice in dim light; running up gravel-laden paths on bare feet; and more. The only time they get to relax is in the evenings, when they recite the Koran and listen to sermons on waging jihad, or holy war, against the Americans and Israelis, Mushtaq told Defense Week. New Video Meanwhile, the Indian government has released videos seized from al Qaeda trained militants in Kashmir. The videos, shown on some Indian TV channels last week, seem to corroborate what Mushtaq has had to say on the al Qaeda training procedures. One of the video's chilling images a target-practice session with young recruits in which former president Bill Clinton is the "target." In addition, the video shows masked militants in army fatigues swinging from a rope and firing from an assault rifle at a round target on the ground. The film demonstrates unarmed combat training, fighting with knives and how to prepare timed explosives. Graduates Mushtaq said al Qaeda "graduates" are the elite among the various factions fighting in Kashmir. Some of them have been sent to Bosnia, Israel and Chechnya to help the local Muslim fighters there. They often function as the "master sergeants," training local militant groups in the art of causing maximum destruction. The al Qaeda is an all-volunteer force with recruits picked up from adrasas (religious schools) at a young age. Most of them are orphans from Afghanistan and have no families to worry about. But in recent years, well-off recruits from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and even Britain have been noticed in al Qaeda camps, said Mushtaq. Mushtaq estimates that no more than 5,000 al Qaeda fighters may be with bin Laden in Afghanistan. Their job was to fan out to areas where Islam was threatened and help the local Muslims. "There are no fixed numbers of how many graduate in each batch, but the number should be in hundreds, not thousands," said Mushtaq. Taliban Strength Contrary to the common western perception that the regular Taliban militia was a foe with substantial fighting skills, the reverse was true, he said. "They are your neighborhood bullies with Kalashnikov-AK-47 rifles," he said. "They have not been trained in a formal way and their only qualification is unquestioned loyalty to Mullah Omar, the supreme leader of the Taliban." The regular Taliban militia is not a uniformed force and has no recognized cadre structure. They also double up as police and have been responsible for much of the barbarity associated with the Taliban chopping off hands of suspected thieves, shooting at the legs of women for exposing their ankles and arresting Muslim men for not growing beards. Indian intelligence is believed to have given the U.S. information it has gathered over the last 10 years about al Qaeda activities and that of other militant outfits operating in Kashmir. India Cooperates Meanwhile, India may assist the United States in a possible assault on Osama bin Laden's hideouts. Last Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwell met Chairman of the Indian Chief of Staff Committee Adm. Sushil Kumar, sparking speculation that the meeting was related to the use of Indian facilities by American forces. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi confirmed the meeting but declined to say whether it had anything to do with using India as a base for U.S. ground operations against bin Laden. A spokesperson for the Indian external affairs ministry said "it is known that the Indian government has offered to help in any way possible to combat terrorism." A source in India's defense ministry said India may allow U.S. forces to land troops and fighter aircraft at airfields in Kashmir and Punjab provinces before taking off for Afghanistan, which is about an hour's flying time away. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk