Military

DATE=10/24/2001

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-282197

TITLE=PAK / AFGHAN ATTACK (L)

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: U-S led air attacks on terrorist sites in Afghanistan have killed at

least 20 members of a militant pro-Taleban Islamic group based in

neighboring Pakistan. From Islamabad, Ayaz Gul reports, the organization

allegedly has links with suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida

network.

TEXT: The militants of Pakistan-based Harkat ul-Mujahideen were killed in

an overnight raid on targets in the Afghan capital, Kabul. They were

holding a meeting in a house in the city when attack took place.

A spokesman for the organization says that bodies of eight militants were

smuggled into Pakistan Wednesday after border guards refused to allow them entry.

Those killed in the attack are said to have traveled from Pakistan to

Afghanistan to help Taleban forces in their fight against the United

States. Harkat ul Mujahideen as been on the U-S State Department's terrorist list because of its ties with Osama bin Laden.

A spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Riaz Mohammad Khan, told

reporters that his country has no knowledge about Pakistanis being killed

in Afghanistan. He insisted that Pakistan has been urging the Taleban

rulers not to allow volunteers from Pakistan to be trained in Afghanistan.

///KHAN ACT///

We had also been requesting the Afghan government to try to apprehend and

hand over a large number of people who are indicted by our courts, who are

absconders and who according to our information had slipped into Afghanistan.

///END ACT///

In Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, police fired teargas to disperse

several thousand supporters of Harkat ul-Mujahideen who were protesting

against the government's refusal to allow the return of the bodies.

Pro-Taleban groups in the country have been demonstrating against Pakistan's support for the U-S led air strikes in neighboring Afghanistan. (SIGNED)

NEB/KBK