Taleban paid to call off election attacks

TALEBAN commanders have been bribed with cash from the international community to hold off violent attacks in the run up to Thursday's Afghan elections, The Scotsman has learned.

Intelligence sources say the money was given to fighters in the hope it would form the basis of permanent peace talks with the Taleban. The news came as the head of the British Army warned that UK troops might remain engaged in operations in Afghanistan for another five years.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, in Edinburgh yesterday for the official opening of the UK's first purpose-built recovery centre for injured service personnel, said it would take "a bit of time" before Afghan forces were able to take over responsibility for security in the country.

President Hamid Karzai is tipped to be re-elected this week after the bloodiest month for British troops in the eight-year war. His brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, and another key Afghan government figure in reconciliation efforts, Arif Noorzai, have been in negotiations with the Taleban.

They claimed that they had split local commanders in the particularly violent south and east of the country from the Taleban high command in Pakistan. Under the terms of the truce, local insurgents have agreed to "neither help, nor intervene" so long as Nato troops do not attack them on polling day, Mr Noorzai said.

But any ceasefire has come too late for the nearly 1,000 British troops killed or injured in the war. The Ministry of Defence yesterday released figures showing that 94 British soldiers were wounded in action last month – more than double the 46 injured in June.

It also named two of the five soldiers killed over the weekend, taking the total death toll since the start of operations in Afghanistan to 204. The soaring casualty rate was partly a consequence of the offensive known as Operation Panther's Claw, which aimed to drive the Taleban from central Helmand ahead of this week's election.

While polls showed the British public is growing more sceptical about the war, defence chiefs were also embroiled in a row over how long British troops would have to stay in Afghanistan. The immediate concern, however, is this week's election.

The Taleban has vowed to boycott the vote and commanders have threatened to attack polling stations. People have been warned that anyone found with ink on their finger – used to identify voters and stop them voting a second time – will have it cut off.

Intelligence sources claim the commanders have been paid off, but officials refused to say whether the money had come from a 135 million election fund, bankrolled by the international community.

Afghanistan's defence minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, said government troops would observe a day-long ceasefire.

Mr Noorzai, a former minister of tribal affairs, said if the deals are honoured on Thursday, they could form a foundation for more permanent peace talks. "It's a test," he said. "They (local Taleban] will be impartial, neither helping nor intervening. They've asked us to make sure that the British and American forces won't attack them on election day. But we know the senior Taleban commanders in Pakistan won't agree to a truce. So the aircraft will still be flying, but there won't be any bombardments. That way, the local commanders can still say, 'Look, we haven't done any deals'."

It follows years of Nato rhetoric – with very little to show for it – about splitting local fighters from their hardline masters.

In Khost, in the east, militants have issued "night letters" threatening to kill people for taking part in the polls. In Zabul, in the south, locals said the Taleban vowed to chop off voters' fingers.

Most people remain cynical and many Afghans are too afraid to vote. A suicide attack at the main gate of Nato's headquarters in Kabul on Saturday is proof to some that the Taleban is still planning widespread violence.

Wazhma Frogh, a leading women's rights activist, said: "It was a major slap in the face to the government, in terms of security."

Ahmed Wali Karzai, who denies Western claims he controls Kandahar's opium trade, said Taleban commanders inside Afghanistan were divided. "Some will look the other way, but others will say no, stop them," he said.

Talk of a truce comes amid fears that low voter turn-out could undermine the elections, particularly in the largely Pashtun-populated south and east, where the insurgency is strongest. A low Pashtun vote would favour Mr Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, whose support base is mainly in the Tajik north.

INSURANCE CALL

TROOPS are being urged to take out private medical insurance by the head of the British Army.

General Sir Richard Dannatt said while the state could give them compensation, "over and above that we encourage servicemen to take out private insurance.

"Money can't put back a leg or an arm, or restore a life that is lost, but it certainly can help."

NEW HONOUR

THE widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan will be the first to be presented with the Elizabeth Cross.

Karen Upton will receive the new medal before the funeral of her husband, Warrant Officer Sean Upton, 35, at Catterick Garrison in north Yorkshire tomorrow. Warrant Officer Upton died in an explosion while on foot patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province last month.