[link|http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001380013-2001381446,00.html|Not a happy camper]

Excerpt:

DISILLUSIONED with life on the front line, a British
deserter from the Taleban is warning other young
Muslims that if they go to Afghanistan seeking glory or
martyrdom they will only find themselves at the mercy
of ?lunatics and liars?.

Abu Mindar, 26, from London?s East End, considers
himself lucky to have survived his baptism of fire this
week with a crew of raw recruits of many nationalities,
none of whom had ever fired a shot in anger.

?Maybe I was naive but I was told there would be proper
training and I would be joining an organised military unit
and it was just chaos,? he said.

The impression being given by militant Muslim groups is
that there is a slick and successful recruiting drive in
British cities after which volunteers are shepherded by
its emissaries to Pakistan and on to training camps run
by the Taleban. The reality, says Abu Mindar, is different.

After days of delay, discomfort and lies he was driven
into the desert with about 25 others, somewhere near
Kabul, and handed a Kalishnikov by the ?commander? of
his group who gestured for him to fire at an enemy he
could not see through the swirling dust.

?There were other Taleban around and suddenly everyone
started firing,? Abu Mindar said on the telephone from
Pakistan.

He laughed nervously as he described how, as he was not
used to handling a gun, the ricochet nearly tore the
AK47 from his grasp.

?It arced up in the air, took off the top of a tree and
nearly decapitated some of the others in our group.
Before I knew it the other side - whoever they were -
started firing back and there was nowhere much to take
cover. Everyone was shouting, some got shot, I didn?t
know what to do.?

Abu Mindar is not sure how many casualties his group
suffered in the 20-minute gunfight but he was taken
back to their makeshift barracks sharing a
four-wheel-drive truck with three wounded.

?Some of the others were shouting victory slogans but
we hadn?t done anything except get ourselves shot,? he
said.

?It wasn?t the danger I minded because I expected
shooting. It was the recklessness of the Taleban and their
complete disregard for the lives of those fighting for
them.?