Frontline Taliban promise revenge attacks after bin Laden killing

KABUL, (Reuters) – Heavily armed Taliban fighters,  appearing in a video purporting to show frontline militants in  southern Afghanistan, have said the killing of Osama bin Laden  will inspire them to continue fighting until all foreign troops  have left the country.
It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the video,  which was obtained by Reuters in southern Afghanistan.
About six unidentified Taliban fighters, all with their  faces covered, posed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled  grenade launchers, machine guns and other weapons.
Three of them vowed to continue fighting NATO-led foreign  troops and Afghan forces despite the death of Osama bin Laden,  the al Qaeda leader killed by a U.S. strike team in Pakistan on  Monday.
“Even if the news of Osama bin Laden’s martyrdom is true, it  will not change our jihad policy … if it is true that he is  dead, it will give us more motivation to continue our jihad,”  one fighter said in Pashto on the video.
The fighters spoke on condition that their names and  location were not disclosed. Reuters obtained the footage from a  source in southern Afghanistan.
The fighters lined up in front of the high mud walls of an  unknown compound. No identifying landmarks could be seen.
“The martyrdom of Osama bin Laden is not going to affect our  strategy and it will not stop us from our goal,” a second   fighter said, looking straight into the camera. “We will  continue with our jihad (holy war) and sacrifice against  infidels until the judgment day and we will avenge our martyrs.”
Analysts say Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are trying to  distance themselves from al Qaeda, although links between the  two Islamist groups had already diminished over the years even  as the insurgency in Afghanistan grew.
The Taliban sheltered bin Laden in southern Afghanistan  until their government was toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces  in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United  States, masterminded by bin Laden.
Bin Laden and the Taliban leadership, headed by Mullah  Mohammad Omar, fled into neighbouring Pakistan.

DOUBTS, QUESTIONS
A Taliban spokesman this week raised doubts about whether  bin Laden had actually been killed.
Bin Laden’s death has led to questions in the United States  about whether Washington could now rethink its presence and  accelerate what is planned as a gradual drawdown of troops  before handing security responsibility to Afghan forces by the  end of 2014.
Another fighter, carrying a radio similar to those often  used by Taliban commanders, appeared to be the leader of the  group and said his fighters remained committed to Mullah Omar.