Taliban vows bloody summer

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, Feb 4 (Reuters) As the United States took over command of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan today, the Taliban said it would step up suicide attacks and had the solid support of 95 per cent of the people.

Senior commander Mullah Hayatullah Khan also told Reuters at a secret base in the south that the group, once sponsored by Pakistan, received no outside support and operated entirely from within Afghan territory.

US and NATO commanders and diplomats say the Taliban has safe havens and training camps in Pakistan, where it also draws support from fellow Pashtun tribespeople.

''We have made 80 per cent preparations to fight American and foreign forces and we are about to start war,'' the 35-year-old black-bearded guerrilla leader said, holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle and wearing a mask.

He was surrounded by about 40-50 Taliban fighters in a wrecked room in the shell of a building. Reuters was not allowed to talk to the fighters nor photograph them.

The guerrillas were preparing anti-tank mines, using explosives and pressure cookers common across Asia and also used for bombs by other rebels, including Maoists in Nepal until the recent peace deal there.

TALIBAN REJECTS PAKISTAN ''The Taliban are totally present inside Afghanistan and we have centres in all provinces,'' Khan said. ''The Taliban are not present in Pakistan because Pakistan has harmed us and has handed over several of our colleagues to the United States.'' He said Pakistani plans to fence and mine the 2,500-km border, much of it rugged and uncontrolled, would have no impact on the Taliban's insurgency.

This Reuters reporter was picked up by a Taliban member in the eastern town of Spin Boldak, near the Pakistan border, and driven for about an hour on a muddy country road by motorcycle for yesterday's interview.

Last year saw the most intense violence since US-led troops ousted the Taliban in 2001 for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

More than 4,000 people died, mostly rebels but also 1,000 civilians and 170 foreign soldiers.

Last week, Khan warned: ''This will be a bloodiest year for foreign troops''.

Khan said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was in Afghanistan and leading the fight against Afghan and foreign troops. He said high-level contacts with al Qaeda remained close, but al Qaeda was now more focused on Iraq.

''All al Qaeda Mujahideen (holy warriors) are in Iraq. Earlier, they were with us but now only Afghan Taliban are active in the Afghanistan jihad,'' he said.

The Taliban on Thursday overran a key southern town -- Musa Qala, in the drugs centre of Helmand province -- four months after British troops pulled out in accordance with a peace deal with tribal elders under which they agreed to keep the Taliban at bay.

Outgoing NATO commander British General David Richards has vowed to drive the rebels from the town. The Taliban accuses NATO of violating the peace deal, which Richards denies.

Ahead of its takeover of NATO's 33,000 soldiers, the United States doubled its combat forces on the ground by extending the tours of duty for some troops by four months. Some analysts expect a more aggressive approach from NATO in coming months.

The United States has several thousand troops under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) but also more than 10,000 more under a separate coalition it heads, Operation Enduring Freedom.

REUTERS AKJ MIR RN1440