Now, Taliban, other extremist web sites cropping up in the US

Washington, Apr.9 (ANI): Of late it has emerged that American-owned firms are playing host to extemist web sites.

The latest case involves a Taliban Web site claiming to be the voice of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan". It has boasted of a deadly new attack on coalition forces in that country.

The most remarkable about the message is the way it has been delivered.

The words were the Taliban's, but they were flashed around the globe by an American-owned firm located in a leafy corner of downtown Houston, the Washington Post reports.

The Texas company, a Web-hosting outfit called ThePlanet, says it simply rented cyberspace to the group and had no clue about its Taliban connections.

For more than a year, the militant group used the site to rally its followers and keep a running tally of suicide bombings, rocket attacks and raids against U.S. and allied troops.

The cost of the service: roughly 70 dollars a month, payable by credit card.

The Taliban's account was pulled last week when a blogger noticed the connection and called attention to it.

Intelligence officials and private experts cite dozens of instances in which Islamist militants sought out U.S. Internet firms -- known for their reliable service and easy terms that allow virtual anonymity-and used them to incite attacks on Americans.

"The relatively cheap expense and high quality of U.S. servers seems to attract jihadists," said Rita Katz, co-founder of the Site Intelligence Group, a private company that monitors the communications of Muslim extremist groups.

"You can learn a lot from the enemy by watching them chat online," said Martin Libicki, a senior policy analyst at the Rand Corp., a non-profit research organization. (ANI)