Wrapped in a dirty brown blanket, his arm in a blood-soaked sling, a deep hole gouged from his shoulder by shrapnel, Zabin says he's not one of Osama bin Laden's men.
His captors think otherwise.
Zabin, a Saudi Arabian, and other foreigners have been jailed since Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance.
Their home now is a basement prison in a military compound, a collection of filthy, rancid smelling subterranean rooms.
They lay on the floor, huddled beneath dirty woolen blankets, or on ratty steel bunk beds. They lay crowded seven and eight to a room.
They were from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia -- all warriors for the ousted Taliban regime that preached a strict brand of Islam, said Daulat Mir, deputy head of the jail.
"When we first arrested them, we asked them, `Which group do you belong to?' They said `al-Qaeda,'" Mir said, referring to bin Laden's terrorist network.
In their sweep across Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance has captured more than 500 foreigners fighting alongside the Taliban, Mir said.
They include about 200 Pakistani militants arrested along the front in Kunduz Province, the last northern outpost under Taliban control.
Others were caught in Kabul, Herat and other cities abandoned by the Taliban after Mazar-i-Sharif fell Nov. 9, leading to the wholesale collapse of Taliban control over most of the country.
"First we will interrogate them and then it will be up to the leadership to decide how to proceed," Mir said.
At the military jail, a flight of stairs leads down to a darkened foyer, where guard Mohammed Saqi fumbles with a handful of keys to unlock the large padlock on the gray steel door leading to the underground cells.
Bare light bulbs dangle from wires, illuminating a long, grime-streaked corridor lined with padlocked steel doors. Saqi opens a small window, through which several men can be seen beneath blankets.
Zabin, the Saudi Arabian, wears only a pair of baggy pants. The blanket is pulled back by guards to reveal the bloodied bandage and the gaping hole where he says shrapnel ripped into him while he was at the front north of Kabul.
He speaks Arabic and a little Dari, one of Afghanistan's languages. He says he's from Qasim in Saudi Arabia.
Zabin shakes his head when asked if he was affiliated with bin Laden, whose al-Qaeda network is blamed by Washington for the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US.
"He is from Osama. We know that," says Mullah Mohammed, the prison security chief.
Grimacing in pain, Zabin won't, or can't, say more. Prison officials say he has been seen by a doctor, who sent him back to the jail.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College