1,000 Arabs Hiding In Hills

ISLAMABAD, Wednesday - Around 1,000 Arabs are based in rugged mountains near eastern Afghanistan’s Tora Bora cave complex where terror suspect Osama bin Laden has a hideout, a report said yesterday. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted local police chief Hazrat Ali as saying the Arabs, supporters of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organisation, were hiding in the hills and forests of Melawa district near Pakistan. “The Arab nationals are in the mountains and around 1,000 of them are hiding in Melawa,” Ali told AIP. Melawa lies about 10km northwest of Tora Bora, a narrow, sparsely inhabited valley surrounded by high peaks which are honeycombed with caves. The area lies some 40 to 50km south of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, a known stomping ground for Saudi-born bin Laden before he went underground. US and Afghan officials say bin Laden may have hundreds of fanatical fighters holed up in the caves, which were developed into a military-style bunker system during the 1979-89 Afghan guerrilla war against the Soviets. Ali, the Jalalabad police chief, said a local militia force of around 2,000 soldiers was prepared to attack the Arabs in the area over the next 24 hours. AFP Ends