THE TELEGRAPH: Bomb attacks that are killing British troops in Afghanistan are being funded and supplied from Iran and Pakistan, a senior officer has said.
Major General Gordon Messenger also revealed that Taliban insurgents are altering their tactics to launch more long-range sniper attacks on Nato forces.
A total of 309 British personnel have died in Afghanistan sine 2001. Many have been killed by improvised explosive devices, bombs planted along roads and pathways[.]
The general, the spokesman for Britain’s mission in Afghanistan, said that UK forces and Afghan civilians now face an “unprecedented threat” from such devices.
Maj Gen Messenger told reporters in London that British military intelligence has found “evidence” that some of the IED attacks are being supported from outside Afghanistan.
“We are looking beyond Afghanistan in terms of the provision of some of the more sophisticated components and the provision of finance,” he said. “There is evidence that something is coming in from Iran, something is coming in from Pakistan.”
Some reports have suggested that military chiefs and intelligence agencies in both Pakistan and Iran are supporting the Taliban.
Last month, a London School of Economics report said that Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service gives extensive backing to the Afghan insurgency. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Thursday, July 01, 2010
