Taliban Leader Vows to Hit U.S. Targets Outside Pakistan

A top Taliban commander pledged that his group will avenge the death of Osama bin Laden by attacking U.S. targets outside of Pakistan.

"Our war against America is continuing inside and outside of Pakistan," said Taliban commander Omar Khalid Khorasani in a video sent to Reuters. "When we launch attacks, it will prove that we can hit American targets outside Pakistan."

Since bin Laden was killed in a Pakistani garrison city by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs in early May, attacks by the al-Qaida linked Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), more commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, has mostly targeted Pakistani security forces - including a Peshawar police station, a Karachi naval base and a paramilitary academy.

The Taliban did attack several American consular vehicles on a Peshawar road May 20th. A bomb planted in a roadside car hit only one of those vehicles, injuring two consulate officials.

"These attacks were just a part of our revenge. God willing, the world will see how we avenge Osama bin Laden's martyrdom," said Khorasani. "We have networks in several countries outside Pakistan," he said.

It would not be the first time it has attacked American targets abroad.

The group claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of Times Square in May 2010. According to the U.S. government, failed bomber Faisal Shahzad received explosives training from the TTP in December 2009. Shahzad appeared in a TTP video during which he "discussed his plan to attack the United States and encouraged other Muslims to follow his example."

The TTP also gave Shahzad $12,000 to help finance the attack.

Similarly, the TTP was implicated in a 2009 suicide bomb attack which killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan. In response to that attack, the U.S. designated the TTP as a terrorist group on Sept. 2, 2010.

Related Topics: IPT News, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Osama bin Laden, Times Square bombing

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