Al-Qaida 'regrouping in Afghanistan'

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network is regrouping and intends to bring Iraq-style bloodshed to Afghanistan, the nation’s defence minister said today, warning that the country could be in for several months of intense violence ahead of key legislative elections.

Defence Minister Rahim Wardak said he had received intelligence that the terror organisation has slipped about half a dozen Arab agents into Afghanistan in the past three weeks, two of whom killed themselves in suicide bombings in the south against a packed mosque and a convoy of US troops.