Foreign jihadists from Pakistan and Iran are infiltrating the ranks of the ruling Afghanis Taliban in Helmand Province, according to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

The fighters are blamed for near-daily suicide bombings, and for terrorizing the locals, committing extra-judicial killings, and arresting Afghanis who travel into government-controlled areas. The captives are accused of spying, and beaten in jail until relatives come to pay for their release.

Some Afghans say the fighters are being sent by Tehran for a political — rather than religious — purpose: to keep occupation forces “pinned down” and thus unable to attack Iran as the nuclear dispute there deepens.

Source:

“Foreign Taleban rile Helmand residents”
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, October 30, 2007