Taliban Leader Urges More 'Insider Attacks' in Afghanistan - East Idaho News
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Taliban Leader Urges More ‘Insider Attacks’ in Afghanistan

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GETTY W 122911 AfghanNationalArmy?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1351157521555ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is urging his followers in Afghanistan to step up so-called “insider attacks” on U.S. and Afghan forces.

Omar, who fled Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion 11 years ago and is believed to be hiding out in Pakistan, made his decree during a message posted on the Internet to commemorate the Eid al-Adha holiday that begins Friday.

Insider attacks this year have cost the lives of at least 52 coalition troops this year, most of them American.

The Pentagon says that the deadly assaults are committed by Taliban members or sympathizers who have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan security forces, although some of the deaths are attributed to regular soldiers or police suffering from battle fatigue.

Messages from Omar have been relatively few over the years as he remains a target of U.S. and NATO forces.

He said in his latest missive that the Taliban is winning and vowed to continue the fight “against the invaders who have invaded our country until the occupation ends completely.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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