AFGHAN AUTHORITIES ARREST WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 000838

NATO CONFIDENTIAL
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2034
TAGS: PREF PTER UN AF PK
SUBJECT: AFGHAN AUTHORITIES ARREST WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBERS
DISGUISED AS RETURNING REFUGEES

REF: KABUL 640

Classified By: Alan K. Yu, Political Counselor, US Embassy Kabul for re
asons 1.4 (d) and (b)


1. (C) Summary: April 1 Afghan border officials intercepted
and arrested militants, camouflaged as repatriating refugees,
transporting a truckload of explosives through the Torkham
border crossing. The militants appear to have coordinated
the timing and manner of transporting the explosives with
public announcements regarding resumption of assisted
repatriation, and government practice of allowing its
returning citizens to pass without search. Afghan media
reported that bona fide refugees were in the truck, but UN
and Afghan officials told us there were no innocent returnees
on board.


2. (U) Afghan radio and television broadcasts the evening of
April 1 reported that Afghan border authorities had
intercepted a jingle truck carrying repatriating refugees and
their belongings. Beneath the refugees' belongings the truck
was loaded with a large amount (NFI) of explosives. Media
said that seven people were arrested, including the driver.
Those arrested reportedly said that the explosives were
intended to be used in a suicide bombing or bombings on April
28, Afghan Independence Day. Media also noted that April 1
was the announced beginning of assisted repatriation season
for 2009, when Afghan refugees in Pakistan could seek
financial assistance from the UN High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) to repatriate to Afghanistan. Note: Assisted
repatriation was originally planned to resume March 1, but
was postponed due to security concerns, reftel.


3. (C) UNHCR Afghanistan Headquarters in Kabul and its
sub-office in Jalalabad told us UNHCR had not resumed
repatriation operations on April 1, despite having issued a
press release on March 30 stating that it would do so. UNHCR
personnel reported to duty at the voluntary repatriation
center (VRC) in Peshawar and at encashment centers in
Afghanistan, in case operations did resume. As of April 1,
however, UNHCR remained dissatisfied with the security
situation and again decided to postpone operations.
Furthermore, UNHCR Pakistan had advised that no refugees had
reported to the Peshawar VRC seeking assistance.


4. (C) Our UNHCR Jalalabad contact confirmed media reports
that the people in the seized truck looked like refugees, but
insisted that none of them were. The Nangarhar Provincial
Director for Refugees and Repatriation (DORR) agreed with
UNHCR that nobody in the truck was a returning refugee. DORR
speculated the militants had used the public announcement
about UNHCR repatriation operations resuming in choosing the
date and location of their border crossing. They used common
wisdom that security officials did not search returning
refugees' belongings to design their camouflage, which
included common household items loaded into a jingle truck.
Note: Typically, refugees hire a Pakistani truck and driver
to transport them and their belongings from Pakistan to
Afghanistan. The only VRC scheduled to reopen on April 1 was
in Peshawar, and many returnees would travel via Torkham
border crossing to the encashment center in Kabul to collect
their repatriation assistance.


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