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Aynak, he says he did visit the camp while traveling from Kandahar to Kabul
with Bin Ladin and others.
48
The Mes Aynak training camp was located in an abandoned Russian cop-
per mine near Kabul. The camp opened in 1999, after the United States had
destroyed the training camp near Khowst with cruise missiles in August 1998,
and before the Taliban granted al Qaeda permission to open the al Faruq camp
in Kandahar.Thus, for a brief period in 1999, Mes Aynak was the only al Qaeda
camp operating in Afghanistan. It offered a full range of instruction, including
an advanced commando course taught by senior al Qaeda member Sayf al Adl.
Bin Ladin paid particular attention to the 1999 training session.When Salah al
Din, the trainer for the session, complained about the number of trainees and
said that no more than 20 could be handled at once, Bin Ladin insisted that
everyone he had selected receive the training.
49
The special training session at Mes Aynak was rigorous and spared no
expense.The course focused on physical fitness, firearms, close quarters com-
bat, shooting from a motorcycle, and night operations. Although the subjects
taught differed little from those offered at other camps, the course placed
extraordinary physical and mental demands on its participants, who received
the best food and other amenities to enhance their strength and morale.
50
Upon completing the advanced training at Mes Aynak, Hazmi, Khallad, and
Abu Bara went to Karachi, Pakistan.There KSM instructed them on Western
culture and travel. Much of his activity in mid-1999 had revolved around the
collection of training and informational materials for the participants in the
planes operation. For instance, he collected Western aviation magazines; tele-
phone directories for American cities such as San Diego and Long Beach, Cal-
ifornia; brochures for schools; and airline timetables, and he conducted
Internet searches on U.S. flight schools. He also purchased flight simulator soft-
ware and a few movies depicting hijackings.To house his students, KSM rented
a safehouse in Karachi with money provided by Bin Ladin.
51
In early December 1999, Khallad and Abu Bara arrived in Karachi. Hazmi
joined them there a few days later. On his way to Karachi, Hazmi spent a night
in Quetta at a safehouse where, according to KSM, an Egyptian named
Mohamed Atta simultaneously stayed on his way to Afghanistan for jihad
training.
52
Mihdhar did not attend the training in Karachi with the others. KSM says
that he never met with Mihdhar in 1999 but assumed that Bin Ladin and Atef
had briefed Mihdhar on the planes operation and had excused him from the
Karachi training.
53
The course in Karachi apparently lasted about one or two weeks.According
to KSM, he taught the three operatives basic English words and phrases. He
showed them how to read phone books,interpret airline timetables,use the Inter-
net, use code words in communications, make travel reservations, and rent an
apartment. Khallad adds that the training involved using flight simulator com-
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