Chapter 26An outsider would be hard-pressed to tell who was the leader among the dozen or so figures seated on the earth floor in the centre of the cave. Candles threw their flickering light on the men as they talked in the local Pashto language of Southern Afghanistan. The conversation was muted and respectful.
‘I fear that too often our people are fighting each other instead of the enemy.’ News had just reached them that three quarters of their supporters in the lawless Iraqi province of Anbar had been purged by other insurgent groups in response to an influx of foreign fighters. Most of the survivors were being forced to flee Anbar to cities and mountains near the Iranian border. Even Sunni Muslim rebels who had originally welcomed Al-Qaeda supporters were taking up arms against the in
