Shadley Nash
Eastern Cape Muslims responding to a call to take up=20 arms against the rebel Serbs in Bosnia are being=20 trained in guerrilla warfare at a secret venue outside=20 Port Elizabeth.
Sources have also confirmed that a training ground has=20 been established in Pietermaritzburg and another is=20 expected to be established in Cape Town.
The call for South African Muslims to join the Jihad=20 (Holy War) in Bosnia was made this week by the Port=20 Elizabeth-based Bosnian Holocaust Committee, hoping to=20 muster some 1 000 men in the province to join a=20 national movement.
According to committee spokesman Rashard Davids,=20 training in guerilla warfare was already taking place=20 at a secret venue outside the city.=20
Said Davids: “This is not a joke, we are not playing=20 games here.”
He said that Muslims around the country are expected to=20 respond to the call for men to join the Jihad.=20
While Davids would not disclose the venue, it is=20 believed to be located on a smallholding at Greenbushes=20 outside the city, owned by a wealthy Muslim=20
The businessman was instrumental in calling Muslims to=20 arms during the Gulf War to fight on the side of=20
According to one source, training on the farm consists=20 of horse training, hand-to-hand combat, use of weaponry=20 like sticks and knives, and the use of automatic=20
The source said that training in survival techniques=20 and how to live off the land was also offered.=20 According to the source, the training was conducted by=20 SANDF commando volunteers.
“Training takes place on Sundays after Fajr (the early=20 morning prayer time for Muslims) and on Wednesday=20 evenings after Magrieb (the early evening prayer).”
Volunteers, upon entering the training programme, are=20 given Hidayaat (guidance counselling) first. “The=20 object is to develop the individual spiritually and=20 then physically,” the source said.
The training ground consists of an obstacle course and=20 a shooting range, where training in the use of=20 automatic weapons is allegedly provided by SANDF=20 commando volunteers.
Davids said his committee had appointed three lawyers=20 to investigate the legal aspects of raising an army to=20 fight on foreign soil. He also said that his committee=20 was informed that Muslims from other countries were=20 making their way to Bosnia to join the Jihad.
“The Jihad is an Ismalic call to war to defend Muslims=20 and it is incumbent on every Muslim to take up that=20 call,” Davids said.
But, while there is a strong emphasis on military=20 training, medical and humanitarian aid was also a=20
“We want to arm ourselves and fight whichever way we=20 can, on the battle-front or on the medical and=20 humanitarian field,” he said.
Meanwhile, thousands of Muslims around the country are=20 expected to take part in marches in various centres on=20 Friday to register their “disgust at the failure of the=20 United Nations to take decisive action to stop the=20 carnage”. — Ecna