Spokesmen for the three media cells of organisations fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan have refused to accept President Barack Obama claim that the al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden was killed in an American military raid in Pakistan on late Sunday night, saying the elusive Saudi national was alive, well and somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Spokesmen for Gulbaddin Hikmatyar’s Hizb-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Taliban, and al-Qaeda refused to confirm the death of Laden who had been on the run. Obama announced on Sunday that a special force of commandos carried out an attack on a house in Abbottabad. The American forces carried out the secret mission in the darkness of the night with assistance from Pakistani intelligence officials, killing Laden, one of his wives and three children.
A spokesman for Hizb-e-lslami, Haroon Zarghon, termed Laden as a “martyr” but stopped short of confirming his death. “However, if he (Laden) has been killed, then we congratulate his family and Muslims all over the world—that Osama bin Laden lived like a martyr and died like one.” Tehreek-e-Taliban also denied any knowledge that Laden had been killed in action.
Abu Akasha, in-charge of the movement’s media cell, said “According to my sources, Laden is still alive.” Local TVs ran single-track headlines on their screens quoting a “Taliban spokesman” saying they will avenge his death by targeting army officials and politicians including President Zardari.
A spokesman for as-Sahaab termed the development as “ambiguous.” “The last we had heard, Laden was still in Afghanistan,” said spokesman Abu Hasnain.