Al Qaeda's Comeback: New Video Shows Attack on U.S.

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February 16, 2007 10:48 AM

A new video claims to show an attack on a U.S. checkpoint in Afghanistan that 150 militants participated in and which allegedly led to U.S. and Afghan forces abandoning their bases in the area.

The 24-minute video was produced by al Sahab -- al Qaeda's notorious "media production" company -- and posted on militant Islamist Web sites Thursday night. It claims the attack took place in Arghandab, in the province of Zabul, some time after Jan. 20.

Watch the al Qaeda video.

The video starts by showing an old statement by al Qaeda's Ayman al Zawahri, in which he refutes President Bush's claims about depriving al Qaeda and the Taliban of a safe haven in Afghanistan accompanied by footage of a number of explosions.

The tape then shows a masked man explaining the attack plan in detail, including the different teams that will participate.

It then goes on to show a group of militants examining the targets before the actual attack, which seems to have taken place at night. Fire shots are heard and seen lighting in the dark for over six minutes. The men shout, "God is great," and two of them are heard talking to each other on a radio. An unidentified masked man who appears on the video several times later claims the clashes continued for 45 minutes.

Several militants are shown later at the "compound" that was allegedly abandoned. They walk around and inside it to prove that it is empty, gloating about how the area was "liberated." 

They also show walls inscribed with English letters, including the name of a soldier from Utah. They then tour the town's market and interview people who express their happiness about the return of the Taliban. 

The influence of the Taliban is clearer in this video than in previous ones issued by al Sahab and another entity that produces tapes about the fighting in Afghanistan called Labayk. Instead of the usual Arabic jihadi song, the video is accompanied by what seems to be a Pashto song. The Taliban is mentioned and praised throughout the video, especially by people from the area who were interviewed towards the end.

Furthermore, the two men talking on the radio during the attack are speaking Pashto, indicating that Taliban members may have participated in the attack. The narration, however, is in Arabic, and the two men describing the attack throughout the video are also speaking Arabic, although one of them sounds like he is Afghani.

A version of the video that has English subtitles was also released.