The Taliban Denies "Confessions" Attributed to Its Spokesman by the Afghani Government

On January 19, 2007, Islamist websites posted a communiqué by the Taliban, in which the organization denies statements allegedly made by its spokesman, Doctor Hanif, who was recently arrested and interrogated by the Afghani army. According to the communiqué, "The Afghani army either falsely attributed the statements [below] to the spokesman or extracted them from him by force:

1. The Amir Al-Muminin (i.e., Mullah 'Omar) lives in the town of Kuti in Pakistan.

2. The Taliban organization may have issued an order to kill [Taliban Military Commander] Mullah Dadallah.

3. Taliban members live in Pakistan and receive training from the Pakistani government... They may [also] be supported by the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence)... and those who carry out martyrdom operations are trained in Pakistan."

According to the message, the spokesman's position in the organization did not allow him access to this kind of information. As for the alleged Taliban order to kill Mullah Dadallah, the message states that his loyalty to the Taliban is indisputable.

The Voice of the Caliphate Channel Announces the Start of Pilot Broadcasts

On January 20, 2007, Islamist websites posted a message by The Voice of the Caliphate (Sawt Al-Khilafa) Internet broadcasting channel, which is part of the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), announcing that the channel would begin its pilot broadcasts soon. The message said: "On the occasion of the [Muslim] new year, the Sawt Al-Khilafa channel is pleased to inform the Muslims that its pilot broadcasts will begin on Saturday, the first day of [the month of] Muharram, 1428, which corresponds to January 20, 2007. We call upon our Muslim brothers to follow... the broadcasts of this blessed channel and to urge others to do so... We hope that these [broadcasts] will have the desired results, that they will benefit the jihad fighters, and bring grief to the infidels and the hypocrites." The message gives its program schedule up to February 2, 2007. Among the programs listed are clips of jihad operations, mostly from Iraq but also from other fronts, such as Afghanistan, Chechnya and Turkistan; da'wa programs with various sheikhs; broadcasts of Bin Laden's old speeches; jihad videos produced by various Sunni jihad groups, such as Al-Jaysh Al-Islami, Jaysh Al-Rashidin, Ansar Al-Sunna and Al-Qaeda; and clips of jihad songs.