Taliban to open new schools in Afghanistan

For the first time since it was ousted six years ago, Taliban authority announced plans to open new schools in Afghanistan, in what media reports described as a new attempt to regain its support among local residents and undermine the Western-backed puppet administration led by Hamid Karzai.

Abdul Hai Muthmahien, the purported chief spokesman for Afghan Islamic Emirate, said the Taliban will begin providing Islamic education to students in March in six southern provinces.

"The U.S. and its allies are doing propaganda against the Taliban," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from an undisclosed location. "The Taliban are not against education. The Taliban want Shariah (Islamic) education."

The news came amidst increasing calls on the U.S. and the British leadership to send more occupation troops in Afghanistan to combat Mujahidden of the Taliban and supporters.

On Monday, the British general in charge of NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan said that additional occupation forces are needed for a year-long push to defeat Taliban Mujahiddeen in Afghanistan.

In an interview with The Guardian, Gen David Richards hailed what he described as "achievement of troops" in frustrating the Taliban efforts and that it was a result of some "exceptionally skilled and brave fighting by the soldiers of many nations".

"But all this has been achieved with less troops than are really needed and I am concerned that NATO nations will assume the same level of risk in 2007 believing they can get away with it," he told The Guardian.

"They might, but it's a dangerous assumption to believe the same ingredients will exist this year as they did last."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry claimed that Taliban leader Mullah Omar could be based in southern Afghanistan and leading Islamic Force from there.

But Tasnim Aslam, spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that Omar's exact whereabouts remain unknown.

"But generally the likely scenario is that he is in Kandahar, from where he is marshaling his troops," the spokeswoman quoted as saying during a news conference.