'Afghan Arabs' Said to Lead Taliban's Fight
The "Afghan Arabs," as the foreigners are called, are proving crucial to the survival of the Taliban, whose leaders are former religious students with limited military expertise. The American and Pakistani officials say the foreigners taking leading roles in military and internal security and — unlike their Afghan cohorts — cannot be bribed into defecting or swayed to surrender.

"The Arabs are the best fighters they have," said Anwar Sher, a retired Pakistani general with longstanding influence on Pakistan's intelligence officers and Afghan military commanders. "A group of 30 of them can engage a battalion of 1,000. They will kill 100 before they take a loss."

Aid workers now in Pakistan also identify the Afghan Arabs as the men who have attacked United Nations operations and offices in Kandahar, the eastern city of Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and other towns. The foreign fighters assaulted Afghans working for the United Nations, stole Land Cruisers and trucks and took hundreds of tons of wheat flour destined for destitute Afghans, the aid workers said.

One Afghan working for a United Nations relief agency described being spat on and threatened by several armed Arabs outside the main United Nations compound in Kabul hours after the first American bombing raids began Oct. 8.

"The Arabs are the ones you have to worry about most," he said. "They will kill you in a moment if they see any sign that you are resisting."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/10/international/asia/10ARAB.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all