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Osama bin Laden escorted by the Black Guard. Click image to view. |
Since September 11, the whereabouts of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been fodder for the rumor mill. Bin Laden sightings pop up now and then, but the rumors have never been substantiated. Since bin Laden fled the fighting in Tora Bora in 2001, U.S. intelligence has had few leads to follow up on. But bin Laden is widely believed to be operating in Pakistan’s rugged tribal regions of the Northwest Frontier Province. The latest rumor comes from Ahmad Farooq, a Pakistani Pashtun Taliban fighter, who claimed to have last seen bin Laden in the Chitral district of the Northwest Frontier Province in September of 2003. Farooq’s story cannot be substantiated, but he claimed bin Laden traveled with a small detachment of bodyguards and spent time in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and China. Adnkronos International reports:
Again, Farooq’s story cannot be substantiated, but it does track with a slew of rumors about bin Laden during the same time period. His health has been a constant issue of debate. At the time bin Laden was believed to have be ‘living in caves’ and on the run. Due to bin Laden’s failure to appear in video or audio propaganda during the time, some believed he was gravely ill or even dead. An interesting part of Farooq’s story is the composition of bin Laden’s personal bodyguard. If Farooq’s story is true, at some point between September 2003 and March of 2005, bin Laden’s personal bodyguard, known as the Black Guard, changed its protection scheme. The Christian Science Monitor reported in March 2005 that bin Laden’s security detail provided a sophisticated level of protection.
“There is a ring of very close guards, there is an outer guard, and then there is an inner guard, and also various circles,” Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, then Pakistan’s top commander in the tribal region told the Christian Science Monitor. “Everybody has a code to enter from the outer circle to the inner circle, then another to move from the inner circle to meeting him.” “Bin Laden is surrounded by two or three concentric circles of security with a small corps of battle-hardened men at its centre,” the Guardian reported in September 2006. “He has not used his satphone–the old number was 00873 682505331–in years and communicates only through handwritten notes carried by trusted couriers. He travels only at night, possibly in disguise.” The Christian Science Monitor also stated that bin Laden’s detachment moves ” in caravans and dress in women’s clothing to avoid detection by satellite.” Bin Laden’s Black Guard maintained a camp in the Danda Saidgai region in North Waziristan. U.S. Special Forces attacked the Danda Saidgai camp in March of 2006, likely believing that Osama bin Laden or other high value targets were present. Imam Asad, a senior Chechen al Qaeda commander and associate of the slain Chechen al Qaeda leader Shamil Basayev, was killed in the attack. Asad was the camp commander and at the time was believed to be the commander of al Qaeda in Pakistan, a position of honor and power within al Qaeda due to the importance of the country to the organization. The members of the Black Guard are specially selected al Qaeda members who take a blood oath to defend bin Laden to the death. Their numbers are estimated to be at around 200-500. They are highly trained in weapons, tactics, and martial arts. The rank and file are branded, and often rise through the ranks of al Qaeda. Senior al Qaeda leaders serve a stint as squad leaders before receiving their assignments. Osama bin Laden selects the squad leaders himself and establishes personal ties with these future leaders. Another interesting note to Farooq’s story is the reason he gave the interview to an Italian newspaper. “Farooq said he decided to speak to the newspaper since he felt indebted to Italian members of the Red Cross who had come to the aid of him and other members of the Taliban when thousands were killed and injured in the U.S. offensive in Afghanistan in 2001.”
