Chechens in Afstan

Matthew Fisher of the Ottawa Citizen appears not to realize that his story excerpted below is essentially amplifying this June 14 story in the Citizen:

The toughest fighters confronting Canada's Van Doos in Afghanistan are not Afghans, but guerrillas from the volatile Russian republic of Chechnya.

That is the conclusion of a veteran Canadian infantryman who spends most of his time deployed in the Panjwaii/Zahri districts establishing relationships with tribal elders and making security assessments.

"The Chechens are hard core. They are the best we face," said the soldier, a Montrealer who works in a secretive cell devoted to what the Canadian battle group calls Information Operations and what other armies call information warfare.

"We're dealing with all kinds of insurgents. With Chechens, Egyptians, Saudis, Pakistanis, guys from the Yemen. It isn't one group more than the next." Asked whether he had encountered foreigners on the battlefield, the sergeant, a veteran of six previous Canadian overseas missions who was only allowed to give his name as Pete, replied with a grin and classic military jargon: "I have not interacted verbally with them."

The trend toward more foreign fighters here was confirmed by Brig.- Gen. Marquis Hainse, Canada's top-ranking soldier in Afghanistan and deputy commander for NATO in what is its main combat theatre, Sector South.

"We see an increase in foreign fighters," the general, who has been based in Kandahar since May, said, although he cautioned that there were not huge numbers of them.

"This may be because less people from Afghanistan are joining the fight. They are not getting the numbers they need here. They are not regenerating forces. What is their pool? It is not extremists, but people who feel they don't have a choice. And that pool is reducing."

In separate interviews, the general and the Information Operations sergeant also noted what they regard as growing resistance on the part of Afghans to hosting foreign guerrilla fighters...

The amplification is useful though.