Pak. arrests 83 Harkat militants

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, NOV. 17. The Pakistan border police today arrested 83 members of the Pakistan-based militant outfit, Harkat-ul- Mujahideen, while they were trying to return in the wake of the collapse of the Taliban militia. The militants, who had gone to join the Taliban, reportedly fought along with the militia in Kabul.

Reports from the border town of Miran Shah said the Harkat militants who had gone to fight along with the Taliban and the terrorist mastermind, Osama bin Laden, were arrested by the Frontier Corps when they attempted entry through the Boya checkpost.

Officials said this was the first batch of militants which had deserted the Taliban ranks and returned to Pakistan. It was handed over to local police for custody.

The militants told the local media that they had returned following the Taliban's decision to withdraw from most of the Afghan towns and retreat into the countryside. They were present in Kabul when the Northern Alliance troops entered the city but escaped before it fell. They were teased and abused by the people of Afghanistan on their way back.

The Musharraf Government, in the last few days, has been maintaining that the ``law would take its course'' with respect to those who had crossed over to fight alongside the Taliban.

The Harkat chief, Mr. Fazlur Rehman Khalil, crossed over to Afghanistan on November 8 to join the fighting.

The group's involvement in the fighting came to light when 22 of its members were killed when a U.S. bomb hit a building in which they were reportedly hiding.

The Harkat was banned by the U.S. after the September 11 terrorist attacks for its alleged links with Osama. Its accounts were frozen. Islamabad, however, maintained that the organisation did not exist in Pakistan. The Harkat has been fighting in Chechnya, Kashmir, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

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