MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax-AVN) - There are several strongholds similar to the Tora Bora system near Jalalabad in Afghanistan, General Makhmud Gareyev, president of the Russian Military Science Academy, said in an interview with Interfax on Tuesday.
Similar underground bases are located "south of Gardez and in the southeast of Kandahar," the high-ranking military expert said. "Such strongholds cannot be destroyed, the most that can be done is to destroy the entrances and exits. But that will not accomplish anything," Gareyev said.
Tora Bora "has a great many passages, including emergency ones," he said. Gareyev did not rule out that some Taliban could have gotten into Pakistan through secret passages. "Those who needed to leave have already left. There are only mercenaries and maybe some Taliban who are ready to meet their death," he said. The general suggested that the anti-Taliban troops may use "a special gas used for dispersing demonstrations to get the Taliban out of the caves."
"The most terrible thing is not the underground passageways, but the fact that the majority of the Taliban have already mixed in with the civilian population of Afghanistan and Pakistan," the general said. He believes that Afghanistan is facing a lengthy guerilla war, especially given the presence of cave-based guerillas spent years in tunnels like Tora Bora near Kerch and Odessa. The people supported them and the fascists could not do anything," Gareyev said.
Gareyev said he favors the introduction of international peacekeeping forces under the aegis of the UN in Afghanistan. "It is the best decision that can be made in this situation," the general said. However, "in order for the peacekeepers to be accepted by the country's population they should be soldiers from Muslim countries," Gareyev said.