Iraq 'sending suicide bombers to Afghanistan'

Al-Qaida has sent several fighters from Iraq to join insurgents in Afghanistan, a provincial governor said after interrogating an Iraqi suspect who was caught sneaking across the country’s western border.

The warning added substance to suspicions that militants in Afghanistan are emulating the rebellion in Iraq with a wave of suicide attacks – the latest, a bomber dressed in women’s clothes who killed five Afghans at an army checkpoint.

“There is a big group coming from Iraq,” said Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad, the governor of the south-western province of Nimroz. “They’re linked to al-Qaida and fought against US forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers.”

It was not immediately possible to confirm the information with Afghan officials in the capital, Kabul. A spokesman for the US military, Lt. Mike Cody, said: “We don’t discuss detainees or intelligence matters.”

An international donors conference in London ended on Wednesday with €10.5bn (€8.7bn) in new aid pledged for Afghanistan – much of it for improving security after the deadliest year in militant violence since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

Though the US military says it doesn’t have evidence of direct links between the rebellions in Afghanistan and Iraq, Afghan officials have long suspected Arab militants were involved in the fighting there.

There have been 21 suicide bombings in the past four months, many of which were blamed on foreigners. Such tactics were relatively rare before then.

The latest was in eastern Khost province on Wednesday when soldiers checked IDs of occupants in a vehicle and an attacker wearing a woman’s all-encompassing burqa detonated explosives, regional police chief Mohammed Ayub said.

Three Afghan soldiers, the driver of the vehicle and a farmer working nearby were killed along with the bomber, Ayub said. He accused the Taliban of being responsible.

The detained Iraqi – identified as 35-year-old Numan din Majid, from Diyala province, west of Baghdad – was arrested in Zaranj on Monday along with three Pakistanis, two of whom were believed to be militants from Kashmir, Gov. Azad said in a satellite telephone interview from his office in the remote desert city of Zaranj.

They were all believed to have crossed into Afghanistan from Iran.

The Interior Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the arrests, but gave no details.

Majid was carrying in his pockets an Iraqi ID card and a photograph of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Azad said. He was dressed in traditional garb and was carrying a single small bag of clothes.

“He confessed he took part in the war in Iraq against the Americans,” the governor said.

He said the capture came two months after another Arab of unspecified nationality was caught crossing the border from Iran. He said that during questioning, that man claimed he was part of a group of 17 militants travelling individually from Iraq to Afghanistan.

“We handed him over to the anti-terrorism department and they have made several arrests based on information from him,” Azad said.

The string of suicide bombings has caused widespread anger.

Yesterday, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in southern Helmand province, demanding that the international community urge Pakistan to stop its alleged support for the militants, regional administrator Ghulam Muhiddin said.

Afghan officials have repeatedly claimed that the Taliban and other militant groups have training bases in Pakistan and are receiving support from that side of the border – an accusation Pakistan denies.