Thank you for the reviews on this one, I'm actually very thrilled to write this story, even when it's more 'off-the-cuff' than anything I've done before. I hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I have in creating it.

Further on, any Italic is Arabic, the translation or explanation is provided in between brackets. Thanks for reading!

Prélude

-oOo-

Village of Bar Sengani, Pachir Wa Agam District (near Tora Bora)

Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, December 19th 2001

The small group of men gathered in the inner compound of the Quala (Afghan traditional fortified village) looked up when a distant roar rolled down the mountain slopes of the Safed Koh (White Mountains). High above, above Spin Ghar in the east, they saw the condensation stripes the B52's engines left behind in the air as the US Air Force bombarded this Eastern section of Afghanistan, to root out the Taliban fighters, and 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, who was thought to reside in this arid and forbidden region.

The bombs' detonations echoed through the valleys, and in the bluish distant horizon of the rugged terrain the bellowing clouds of dark smoke were visible that rose from where they had fallen. One of the men reached for his AK-47 assault rifle.

"Insha Allah (By God's Will), we're safe from the Infidels' bombs here," the group eldest said as he laid his hand on the younger man's arm. He could, however, understand his nervousness. Just a week before, they had escaped from Coalition's attacks on their stronghold and suffered losses as a result of that. Al Qaeda combatants and Taliban fighters, like them, had fled when US and British Special Forces and Anti-Taliban Tribal fighters had launched their offensive.

Battered, bruised but not defeated, they had regrouped, knowing their knowledge of the terrain was superior to the Americans, and thus their means of survival were secured.

The ungoverned Tribal Area that extended from the Southeast of Kabul across the border into neighbouring Pakistan (Waziristan e.g.) was literally a safe haven for the band of men that had seen exclusion from major parts of Afghanistan after late November where they had once been free to roam the land.

"Insha Allahi, Alrrahmeeni (By God's Will, the Merciful), we'll prevail," the group's leader said as another roar echoed through the mountains. "We will defeat the Kaffír (Infidels), and the blood of them, their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers, their brothers and sisters will soak the soil, and it will dye their rivers red." Sheikh Khalid Muhammad Siddiq, born and raised in Southern Waziristan (Pakistan), waved his finger admonishingly to the group of men sitting in front of him. 45-year old Muhammad Siddiq was a gifted Imam (Leader of the Prayers) who had received a thorough schooling in the Madrasah (Islamic School) of Islamabad's Lal Masjid (Red Mosque): a place of radical Islamists from all over Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

It was there were Mujahideen (Islamic Fighters) were recruited throughout the Afghan-Soviet War of the 1980's. Later it became the recruiting centre and breeding ground for the Taliban (Islamic Students) Movement that would occupy vast sections of Afghanistan and provide shelter for Osama Bin Laden cum suis.

It was there where Muhammad Siddiq just over three months ago had watched the scenery unfold on that bright and sunny morning when everything had changed.

"Allahu Akhbar (God's Great)," they had exclaimed, almost drunk with joy when Mohammad Atta al-Sayed, Marwan al-Shehhi crashed United Airlines 175, and American Airlines 11 into respectively the South and North Tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th. And where Hani Hanjour followed suit when UA Flight 77 crashed into the symbol of American military might and dominance: the Pentagon.

UA Flight 93 with Ziad Jarrah on board ended in a field near Shanksville, PA, missing the objective now suspected to be the US Capitol, but forever gaining fame as heroic Shuhada (Martyrs) along with the 16 others.

The bopping sound of a helicopter's rotors hammering through the air was coming closer. Experience told the men it was twin-engine, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, on reconnaissance perhaps. "The eye of the Kaffir is preying," Mohammad Siddiq said, "but he's alone and unaware of us."

"We can take it down, Insha Allah," a fighter said as he took his weapon, an American made FIM-92 Stinger Surface-to-Air missile launcher. The weapons were once distributed by the CIA to Afghan Mujahideen fighters in the 1980's for use against Russian aircraft. A bitter irony was that they were now used against US aircraft too.

"Patience, if it comes too close, we'll finish it, if not we don't need to alert the Kaffir of our presence," Mohammad Siddiq said. "We have bigger plans that need no disturbance."

He stared out over the mountainous slopes, watching the setting sun. He smiled. "The Infidels have seen a day of wrath, but Insha Allah, their ordeal will be bigger than ever before."

He turned round to face his men again. "Barsaat Salagna Allahu, (God's Rain of Fire)" he said in Urdu, his native tongue and that of many Taliban, "will fall upon the Infidels white marble thrones and temples. Their eyes will be blinded, their gardens destroyed."

Mohammad Siddiq picked up his Koran, and began to recite Al-Qari'ah, while the men listened. The droning sound of the helicopter fading away until it had fully vanished. "Insha Allah, we have the shuhada ready. The Jihad (Struggle, /- Holy War) will be brought to their doorsteps. The Empire of Evil is in a hurry to destroy us, but we have the time. We will strike again, have patience my fellow Mujahideen….." Mohammad Siddiq said as he closed his Koran again. He gestured for the men to stand up. "We move before the light of a new day begins, the eye of the Kaffir has not found us yet."

-oOo-

Note: The word Jihad is usually translated as 'Holy War', but in Arabic, Jihad means a variety of things. The concept of Jihad is mistakenly thought to be just the Holy War: in fact Jihad means 'Personal Journey', and can be anything from a pilgrimage to doing charity work, and fighting for the safety of loved ones and/or Islam when threatened.