Indonesian volunteers trapped in Afghanistan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA: Most of the 300 Indonesian volunteers who went to Afghanistan remain trapped in Afghanistan territory. Some of them managed to be pulled back to Pakistan following the fall of the Taliban in Kabul and other provinces, an organizer of the group said on Thursday.

After the defeat of the Taliban in Kabul, Suaib Didu, Chairman of the Islamic Youth Movement (GPI) here said that he had received reports from his colleagues in the conflict areas that a small group of volunteers under GPI coordination managed to flee from the melee in several areas throughout Afghanistan and arrived well and safe in Pakistan territory.

"From our latest contacts, I learned that 50 volunteers had entered Pakistan safely. 120 others were stranded in border areas and the rest are still working with the Taliban inside Afghanistan," Suaib told The Jakarta Post.

"We still have contact with the Taliban and local officials to search for their exact whereabouts," Suaib asserted.

GPI was the organization that recruited the Indonesian volunteers to wage war against the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan after the U.S. threat to strike Afghanistan which was accused of harboring Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S.

Suaib claimed that none of the volunteers under GPI coordination died during the U.S.-led bombardment of Afghanistan. According to Suaib, there were a total of 300 Indonesian volunteers deployed in Afghanistan. They infiltrated Afghanistan 2 weeks after the U.S. and its allies began the strike on Oct. 7.

Suaib added that some of them preferred to remain there, in hopes of joining Indonesia's (possible) UN peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan, while others wished to return to Indonesia.