This is a fragment of a 301 page book written by Mustafa Hamid (Abu Walid Al-Misri) titled “15 Bullets for the cause of God” which is part of series titled “Chatter on the World’s Rooftop.” The first quarter of the book provides a general history of the Afghan jihad and key actors in the conflict, including a description of the management and manipulation of the hostilities by the Pakistani and American intelligence services. He also comments on the fervor of Arab mujahidin fighting with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The second quarter of the book begins to discuss his account of his involvement in fighting in Lebanon during the 1970’s. Hamid describes how his belief in Islam faltered during this period due to the defeat suffered by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the organization’s absence from the conflict in Lebanon. Later, having regained his faith, the author became disillusioned with the PLO and the outcome of the Lebanese conflict. It was at this time that his Islamic faith began to revive and he started thinking about forming his own jihad organization in Abu Dhabi. While in Abu Dhabi Hamid had a chance encounter with a delegation of Afghan sheikhs from Paktia province, who told him of the possibilities for jihad in their country. After this meeting the author decided to move to Afghanistan to participate in the jihad against the Soviet Union instead of forming his own group. Starting on page 23 and continuing to the end of the book Hamid describes his journey to Afghanistan through Pakistan, and his work as a journalist for the al-Fajr and al-Ittihad newspapers. He also describes Usama bin Laden’s role in digging cave and tunnel networks in preparation for the attack against the Khost airport in 1990-1991.
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