Taliban Trains Monkeys To Fight American Soldiers?

The US-led forces fighting the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan might soon encounter 'gun-totting' monkeys, trained for 'jihad', if a rumour doing the rounds in the Chinese media is to be believed.

According to most reports - this is simply a rumor that began on the Internet and has since gained some steam.

NATO officials and military experts have scoffed at the report originating in the Chinese media, which says that the Taliban are training monkeys to fight the US-led military. The New York Post cited the state-run People's Daily as saying that the Taliban is "training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops".

Here's an excerpt from this article:

The Rumor Doctor had to investigate this case of primal fear after the Chinese People’s Daily reported this week that “monkey terrorists” are being trained by the Taliban in Waziristan, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The newspaper also claimed that reporters from an unnamed British news agency took photographs of the “monkey soldiers” holding AK-47s and other weapons.The primates are supposedly meant to counter U.S. military technological advantages in Afghanistan.

“In response, the Taliban forces have tried any possible means and figured out a method to train monkeys as ‘replacement killers’ against American troops,” according to the newspaper. The Rumor Doctor asked NATO officials whether these killer monkeys have yet been encountered on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

“We have absolutely nothing that leads us to believe that this tale could be even remotely based in reality,” said NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale.