Dead Taliban fighter in Afghanistan had Aston Villa tattoo

Jun 14 2009 Exclusive by Paul Bradley, Sunday Mercury

BRITISH soldiers claim a Taliban fighter killed in Afghanistan was found with an Aston Villa tattoo on his body.

The unnamed Muslim insurgent lost his life following clashes with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces.

Details of forensic investigations on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters are normally top secret.

But a British military source said that the terrorist had an Aston Villa tattoo – showing he could be from the West Midlands.

The claims follow news that RAF radio spies picked up Birmingham accents while listening in to Taliban ‘chatter’ over the airwaves.

The military source said: “It’s been well-known for some time among soldiers in Afghanistan that at least one Aston Villa fan was fighting for the Taliban.

“A body of one of the men was found to have an AVFC tattoo on it.

“We’ve known for a long time that foreign fighters, many with thick Birmingham accents, have been recruited to fight against us for the Taliban.

“Some of the linguistics specialists have picked up West Midland and Manchester accents too.

“But it was a shock to hear that the guys we were fighting against supported the same football clubs as us, and maybe even grew up on the same streets as us.

“I’m not sure if the army uses the story to try and stir up a bit of passion in us when we get into fire-fights with them.”

The British Foreign Office said they were working with governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan to stop British-born Muslims going abroad to “wage Jihad”.

But the claims about the Villa tattoo and Midland accents could indicate that a growing number are turning their backs on the West to fight for the Taliban.

A Government official, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “There will always be a number of people who are radicalised in this country and want to leave the UK.

“The details of Aston Villa fans in the Taliban does not shock or surprise me.

“We have never had any hard and fast evidence to tie all of these snippets of information together, but we are sure they equate to a wider ongoing radicalism in the UK.”