Taliban Fighter Blows Himself Up In Hospital

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, - One of the seven Arab fighters barricaded in a hospital ward in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar blew himself up on Tuesday, a security official said. The Arab, believed to be a member of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, committed suicide around 5:00 am (0030 GMT) after trying to flee the hospital and finding himself surrounded by guards, the official, Afizullah, told AFP.The bloodied and mutilated body of the man, whose name was thought to be Mohammad Rasool, was left lying on the lawn outside the Mirwais hospital. The corpse was of a young man, aged between 20 and 25 years, thin and dressed in traditional Afghan clothing. His left arm was wrapped in a large bandage but the body was blackened and shredded by the explosion. His nationality, and the identity of the six other fighters barricaded in the former women’s section, are unknown to hospital authorities who have been keeping watch over the month-long siege. The Arabs, many of whom are believed to be from Yemen, arrived at the hospital in November after being wounded in a US air raid on the airport serving this southeastern city.At that time, Kandahar was still the religious and political stronghold of the fundamentalist Taliban regime which sheltered wanted suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network. Before the Taliban fled Kandahar on December 7, the wounded Arabs were reportedly handed food and weapons so they could resist capture. Afizullah, who oversaw security at the besieged ward, said the man tried to flee at dawn on Tuesday. “He wanted to escape at five, he went out of the ward. We wanted to capture him alive, but he detonated explosives strapped on himself.AFPEnds