Foreign fighters alienate Afghans: Ménard

An influx of foreign fighters into southern Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban is backfiring on the insurgents because it's alienating the region's biggest ethnic group, says the top commander in Kandahar.

Canadian Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard, who heads coalition forces in the province, said many Pashtuns are growing upset with all the fighters from abroad who are hunkering down in their homeland in southern Afghanistan, which includes Kandahar province, where the bulk of Canada's troops are deployed.

There's an ancient code of honour among the tribe called pashtunwali that demands unfailing hospitality toward guests.

Most Taliban are also Pashtuns. That tribal bond means many Pashtuns shelter and feed Taliban fighters, to the chagrin of coalition forces.

But Ménard said the Pashtuns don't feel the same affinity for foreigners.

'They are foreigners, just like us.' —Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard

"As a Pashtun, you will always welcome someone to your house, especially another Pashtun. You have to provide them food. You have to provide them shelter. You have to protect them.

"Now that you have foreigners ... that do not have the same support locally, then you're talking about a whole different ballgame," he said.

More foreign fighters in recent years

It's not unheard of to have foreigners fighting alongside the Taliban. Osama bin Laden, who was born in Saudi Arabia, was instrumental in fusing his al-Qaeda organization with the Taliban in the late 1990s.

In the last year or so, more foreigners have taken up arms with the Taliban, Ménard said.  

Ménard wouldn't name specific source countries. "You could find some people that have flags that you'll say, 'OK, that's interesting.'"  He said they come for the money, ideology or myriad other reasons.

"The bottom line is, it's irrelevant, because for the people here, it's all the same. They are foreigners, just like us," Ménard said.

The general wouldn't guess the number of foreigners in the insurgency, nor would he say precisely how their tactics differ from home-grown militants. But he said it's easy to tell the locals from the foreigners.

"It's exactly like you know when someone writes with a pen or a pencil. It's as different as this. It's still writing," he said.

Ménard's comments complement those made earlier by Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan.

William Crosbie said Sunday it's pointless to give vocational training and jobs to Taliban fighters who lay down their weapons if doing so makes ordinary citizens think the Taliban is being favoured.

"There's no point developing some kind of a fund to which former insurgents are eligible if we're not equally providing support to Afghans who are not part of the insurgency now," he said.