Agence France Presse

Khost, February 20

The remnants of the Taliban, forced out of power in Afghanistan in 2001, will stage a new wave of attacks against US-led coalition forces in the south and southeast of the country this spring, a man claiming to be a representative of the fundamentalist militia told AFP today.

In an interview in the southeastern city of Khost, the man, who has previously proved himself a credible source of information on the intentions of the militant group, also claimed that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, were both alive and in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden and his deputy, the Egyptian Ayman Al-Zawahiri "are alive and both are in Afghanistan, in different places", Mohammed Saiful Adel told an AFP journalist in an interview.

A former leader of the anti-Soviet Mujahaddin fighters, Jalaluddin Haqqani, "has taken on the role of deputy leader of the Taliban", the Taliban spokesman said. "He is playing a key role in our movement and is responsibile for all the military operations," he added.

"Haqqani is personally leading the operations in Paktia, Paktika and Khost," said the spokesman, referring to three southeastern provinces.