AFGHANISTAN: An Islamic group expressed surprise today at reports that RAF spy planes in south Afghanistan have detected Taliban fighters speaking in British accents.
Nimrod surveillance aircraft flying over Helmand province recently picked up voices lapsing from local languages into English with Midlands and Yorkshire accents, according to reports.
Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was aware that some British Muslims travelled to Afghanistan to fight when hostilities began in 2001.
He had heard of no cases since then, but accepted it was "not beyond the bounds of possibility", given that the conflict had "dragged on with still no end in sight".
Linguists on board the Nimrods from 51 Squadron, normally based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, detected the British voices while listening in on Taliban radio traffic, according to The Sun.
An unnamed RAF source told the newspaper: "The missions specialists could easily jam the Taliban transmissions - but the RAF believes listening in to their plans is much more productive.
"It was quite startling to hear English being spoken with clear Bradford and West Brom accents.
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