Hundreds of Taliban massing to attack dam - official
At least 700 Taliban fighters have crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan to attack a key dam, a major source of electricity, a provincial governor said on Monday.
"We have got confirmed reports that they are Pakistani, Uzbek and Chechen nationals and have sneaked in," Helmand Governor Asadullah Wafa told Reuters by telephone.
The dam, Kajaki, has seen major fighting in recent weeks between the Taliban and NATO forces, mainly British and Dutch.
NATO, U.S. and Taliban commanders warn a major offensive will come in spring when the snows melt in a few months, after the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamists were ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001.
More than 4,000 people died last year.
Wafa said the Taliban fighters were brought in by local commanders for a joint operation with al Qaeda.
"They are planning to destroy the Kajaki dam," he said, accusing Pakistan's military intelligence agency, ISI, of providing training and logistical support for the guerrillas. REUTERS
BUT IN 2001 THIS RAPPORT ON INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK
US bombs have destroyed a hydroelectric plant next to Afghanistan's largest dam, according to UN sources. The London newspaper, The Independent, reports that the dam itself does not appear to have been hit but that the loss of power has incapacitated gates regulating water discharges from the reservoir.
If long-awaited rains arrive and the dam's electric-powered gates cannot be opened there is a risk that the reservoir could overflow. This could in turn cause the dam to burst resulting in what UN officials describe as a "disaster of tremendous proportions". UN officials also fear that further air raids risk destroying the dam.