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Maulvi Abdul Kabir	Maulvi Abdul Kabir	Lashkar Fedayan-e-Islami	Afghanistan				20021212
	Maulvi Abdul Kabir	Taliban	Afghanistan				20021128

Afghanistan

Daily Evacuation Brief May 23-24, 2023

2023-05-24

Daily Evacuation Brief | May 24, 2023 [AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS DEADLY ATTACK ON PAKISTANI OIL OPERATION IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA – A large militant force of up to 50 men stormed a Hungarian oil complex in the Hangu District of the Province. The attack targeted two specific pumping wells and heavy weapons and rocket-propelled grenades were employed in the attack. 4 Police and 2 private security guards were killed in the attack. It is not known how many of the militants were killed or wounded in the exchange of fire. After the attack, the militants were thought to have retreated into North Waziristan. The TTP claimed credit for the action, but this has not been confirmed by officials in Pakistan. Minor damage was inflicted on the facility but did not affect production. Police and military units were conducting sweeps of the adjacent areas as well as sending heavily armed patrols into North Waziristan. IMRAN KHAN MAY HAVE OVERESTIMATED HIS POPULARITY – The ousted Prime Minister appears to have overplayed his hand and is reeling from a wave of defections from his political party. Since the nationwide violence broke out on 9 May, thirty-five party leaders have resigned from the party. Several local party offices have been vandalized, some by their own former members. Turnout at local rallies has dwindled. At this point, it is not clear how much support the embattled politician retains. A source in Islamabad said that Khan made a monumental mistake when he ‘challenged the Army’. While few are counting Pakistan’s ‘master of spin’ out, there is a growing sense that even many within his own party are tired of the constant tirades and conspiracy theories. The former PM appeared in front of three separate proceedings yesterday over a slew of legal issues. Despite launching several Twitter warnings, he was not arrested and the courts gave him lenient extensions of bail. HEAVY FLOODING IN GHOR PROVINCE KILLS 5 – Rain and melting snow contributed to severe flooding in the Madrasa area that reportedly killed 5 people. Damage from the floodwaters was also reported in the Pasaband District. TALIBAN FINALIZING RULES REGARDING WOMEN WORKING IN AID CAPACITIES – According to the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, the Taliban have nearly completed the new guidelines for Afghan women to work for nongovernmental organizations in the country. When pressed for dates or a timeline, the Taliban would not provide additional information. Many are skeptical that any work is being done and, even if it were, the ruling cabal in Kandahar would overrule plans to allow women back to work. CONFLICT TRACKER Laghman: ALM forces reportedly engaged a Taliban unit near Mount Barmasmut yesterday evening. 6 Taliban were reportedly killed in the encounter. NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Received Daily Evacuation Brief | May 23, 2023 [AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS TALIBAN CAUTIONS IRAN OVER HELMAND RIVER THREATS – The escalating war of words over water rights between Iran and the Taliban continued yesterday as the Taliban Foreign Minister sent mixed messages regarding the commitment to the 1973 treaty. Amir Khan Muttaqi said during a press conference in Kabul that the Taliban was committed to honoring the treaty but then hedged by saying that Tehran needs to be prepared to lower expectations based on the drought in Afghanistan. In previous statements about the matter, the Taliban has consistently said it would adhere to the provisions of the treaty. We assess that the change in rhetoric was likely provoked by Iran’s public request to dispatch an assessment team to Afghanistan to measure water levels. A source in Tehran said that several of the drone flights conducted by Iran in the Spring of 2023 were sent into Afghanistan to conduct aerial hydrological surveys of reservoirs and that Tehran is convinced the Taliban are withholding water from the Helmand River with plans to divert it for domestic agricultural use. The Taliban appear to be adjusting their messaging with regard to the water issue. THE RAINY SEASON MAY USHER IN DENGUE FEVER CONTAGION – The World Health Organization has issued a warning over the risk of outbreaks of Dengue Fever in Afghanistan. Populations in Eastern Afghanistan are the primary concern as the region has historically suffered the highest infection rates from the disease. The organization said it had anticipated the problem and had successfully trained approximately 300 medical staff to deal with the disease. Of note, the majority of the medical staff trained for this potential crisis are women. MODERATELY POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE REPORTED IN BADAKHSHAN – An earthquake struck Badakhshan Province before noon yesterday. The 4.9 magnitude quake was centered near Faizabad and the tremors were felt in Kabul. The quake was the second above 4.0 magnitude reported in a ten-hour span and seismologists are concerned that a stronger earthquake may be coming. NEW PRIME MINISTER APPOINTMENT THOUGHT TO BE AIMED AT THE ‘YOUNG LIONS’ IN THE TALIBAN 2.0 – Several long-time observers and analysts feel the appointment of Maulvi Abdul Kabir as acting Prime Minister by the supreme leader was a political message aimed at Mullah Baradar, Mullah Yaqoob, and (most importantly) at Sirajuddin Haqqani. Kabir’s roots lie in Paktia Province and his family ties are largely seen as competition to the Haqqani family. There seems to be a growing consensus that Hibaitullah Akhundzada has grown paranoid and it is said that he overruled several of his inner circle who had urged for a promotion for Mullah Baradar (First Deputy Prime Minister). Further reshuffling is expected to take place and many believe the Haqqani family will lose key positions. CONFLICT TRACKER Takhar: An ALF unit reportedly attacked a Taliban security checkpoint in the 1st police district of Taloqan yesterday evening. 1 Talib fighter was reportedly killed and 3 others were wounded in the incident. NEXT 24 HOURS PAKISTAN - FORMER PM KHAN SCHEDULED TO MAKE THREE COURT APPEARANCES TODAY – The ousted Prime Minister will start his day with questioning in front of the National Accountability Bureau in Rawalpindi over a corruption case. Then, he is scheduled to request bail in a case concerning potential charges of terrorism at the Anti-Terrorism Court. Lastly, he is scheduled to appear at the Islamabad High Court where he will be processed for his biometric data in an attempt to receive another grant of bail in several new cases. The former PM called on his followers to remain calm if he is arrested today. Some believe the about-face is due in large part to several high-level defections from his party and recent polling that gives the Pakistani military very high approval ratings. Relative calm has reigned in Pakistan since the events that transpired after 9 May but the former PM has proven to be a wily political figure and it is possible that orders have gone out to instigate a new round of mass protests should be detained. However, the matters before him today are considered routine and we assess the likelihood of violence to be low. At-risk Afghans sheltering in Islamabad and Rawalpindi should continue to remain vigilant but should be able to go about their daily affairs.

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Afghanistan

Mullah Omar's Son Yaqub Reportedly Killed: Official

2015-08-04

[Tolo News] Afghanistan's first deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) Zahir Qadir on Monday said that Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... 's son, Mullah Yaqub, was killed last week in Quetta, Pakistain. According to him, Mullah Yaqub, who had hoped to succeed his father as leader of the Taliban, was killed while at a meeting in the city four days ago (Thursday). "We were told about Mullah Omar's death two years back and now his son Mullah Yaqub who was 21 or 22 years old was trying to be appointed as his father's successor. But Mullah Mansour also tried to become leader of the Taliban, therefore it is said that he was killed some days back," Qadir told TOLOnews. "The opposing Taliban and Pakistain had a hand in killing Mullah Yaqub. The reality will be made clear soon," he said. In addition to this, Afghan security sources told TOLOnews late Monday that in the past 24 hours three festivities between Taliban factions have been reported in Quetta city in Pakistain. One attack was on a convoy transporting newly appointed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour's deputy, the source said. A source said that Maulvi Haibatullah Noorzai, Mullah Mansour's deputy, narrowly escaped an liquidation attempt on his convoy by unidentified gunnies in Pakistain's Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province. The source wishing anonymity said that former Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. governor and Taliban head of the central committee, Maulvi Abdul Kabir, was also in the convoy. Unidentified persons mounted the attack on the convoy on the outskirts of Chaman area in Pakistain, the source said, adding Haibatullah and Maulvi Abdul Kabir escaped unhurt but three other Taliban leaders were maimed in the attack. The top Taliban leaders were in the locality to garner support for Mullah Mansour from local holy mans when they came under attack. Chaman is the hometown of Mullah Abdul Razzaq who has opposed Mullah Mansour's nomination as Taliban leader. Mullah Mansour has been appointed as Mullah Omar's successor. Two other attacks also occurred between Taliban factions in the past two days. Both were carried out on houses in Quetta city but it is unclear who the residents are or whether any casualties were reported. The news of Mullah Yaqub's death however comes just days after he and his uncle Abdul Manan, Mullah Omar's younger brother, were reportedly among more than a dozen Taliban figures who walked out of Wednesday's leadership meeting held in Quetta. It was at this meeting that the Taliban named Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as the group's new leader. Rooters reported that the display of dissent within the group's secretive core is the clearest sign yet of the challenge Mansour faces in uniting a group already split over whether to pursue peace talks with the Afghan government and facing a new, external threat, Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... . Rifts in the Taliban leadership could widen after confirmation of the death of Mullah Omar. Mansour, Mullah Omar's longtime deputy who has been effectively in charge for years, favors talks to bring an end to more than 13 years of war. He recently sent a delegation to inaugural meetings with Afghan officials hosted by Pakistain, hailed as a breakthrough. But Mansour, 50, has powerful rivals within the Taliban who oppose negotiations and have been pushing for Mullah Omar's son Yaqub to take over the movement. "Actually, it wasn't a Taliban Leadership Council meeting. Mansour had invited only members of his group to pave the way for his election," said one of the sources, a senior member of Taliban in Quetta. "And when Yaqub and Manan noticed this, they left the meeting." Among those opposing Mansour's leadership are Mullah Mohammad Rasool and Mullah Hasan Rahmani, two influential Taliban figures with their own power bases who back Yaqub.

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Afghanistan

'America is not retreating' from Afghanistan

2012-07-09

More than 3,070 NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... and ISAF deaths have been reported in Afghanistan since 2001 - 223 in 2012 alone - and there are no signs that the violence against western troops will end soon. The attacks on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel and the US Embassy, the liquidation of former Afghanistan's Caped President Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... last year while he served as a peace envoy to the Taliban, and more recently, murder of a Non-Governmental Organization worker in the capital, show that the assaults are getting bolder. "The issue is, how will Afghanistan be managed post withdrawal? Where will the money come from? And will the Taliban take over again?" asks Muhammad Ibrahim, an Afghan Defence Ministry official. "We in Afghanistan - and let me be very clear, all of us from the Pashtuns to Tajiks, to Uzbeks to the Hazaras - perceive Pakistain as the main problem." President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... had praised the slain Rabbani's peace efforts but said that they were "one sided" because the Taliban's only response "was just to kill people." Karzai alleged that these "enemies of peace" - the Taliban and other hard boyz - were "under the influence of foreign intelligence services", by which he meant Pakistain's ISI. "Let's agree that any endgame in Afghanistan must include Pakistain, the Quetta Shura and even the Haqqanis as part of the solution, instead of leaving them as lingering problems," says Carl Adams. "The Americans need to realize that a draw in Afghanistan is a win for this trio" "US strategists are trying to stabilize Afghanistan enough to prevent it from becoming a favourable environment for terrorism," said Micheal Semple, an EU representative in Afghanistan who initiated talks with the Taliban. "They calculate that Pakistain would benefit from this and could help achieve it. They consider Pakistain a challenge because they find themselves struggling to get the Pak establishment to deliver on the cooperation they hoped for. And they find Pakistain a puzzle as it is in the first place threatened by the consequences of that non-cooperation - as we have seen in Dir over the past week." "Rabbani's liquidation was the biggest set-back to peace so far," says a top Afghan Intelligence official. "Who doesn't want peace is very clear. We see the Pakistain connection in this." Most government and intelligence officials in NATO, ISAF and the Afghan government echoed Karzai in blaming Pakistain indirectly for Rabbani's liquidation. But the way Rabbani was killed was quite similar to the murder of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the charismatic leader of Northern Alliance. He was killed by two Al Qaeda jacket wallahs pretending to be journalists just before the September 11, 2001 attacks, an liquidation launched to please Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... , but which might have been set into motion without his consent. A section of the Haqqani Network under the influence of Pakistain's ISI denied killing Rabbani. Negotiations with Taliban: Recently, the Karzai government has decided to sit down with its enemies, the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami, in Japan. Qari Din Mohammad Hanif, the former Taliban planning minister who had a seal of approval from Mullah Umer, sat down with Afghan official Masoon Stanikzai, a senior member of High Peace Council, to talk. "The Taliban insisted on complete withdrawal of foreign troops from the country after 2014, and called the Karzai government a puppet saying they would not negotiate with them," one official said. The Taliban, in a statement, also distanced themselves from Pakistain which according to analyst Carl Adams, a former director at CIA who has worked in Afghanistan and Pakistain, "shows how Pakistain's game is ending and how isolated Pakistain stands today in it's own game". He says: "The GHQ lost the plot when the US and NATO started negotiating with the Taliban directly and when OBL was killed." Quetta Shura, Pakistain and NATO Supplies: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, Mullah Abdul Rauf, Mullah Muhammad Hassan, Mullah Ahmad Jan Akhundzada, and Mullah Muhammad Younis - the elite Quetta Shura members - were all caught in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and other urban areas of Pakistain in a series of joint raids in 2010. Mullah Mir Muhammad was caught from Faisalabad on January 26, 2010 in a joint raid by Pak and American intelligence officials when Americans intercepted a messenger and immediately asked Paks to take action. Also in Pak custody is Mullah Abdul Salam, caught in January 2010, and Maulvi Abdul Kabir, caught from Nowshehra on 20th February 2010 in similar raids by Pak and American teams. "The problem is Pakistain," says former Afghan intelligence chief Amarullah Saleh. "The shelters are in Pakistain, and the war in Afghanistan is facilitated and run from Pakistain. What other clarifications do they want?" In Pakistain, extensive diplomatic efforts have been made by US and British diplomats including NATO officials to convince the government to re-open NATO supply lines. Stephen Tyne, a NATO logistical expert, says, "It costs NATO an extra $10,000 per 20-foot container with an additional $1.3 billion bill apart from bribing CAR nations with over $500 million to supply NATO, thanks to Paks blocking the routes." About 90 percent of non-military supplies to Afghanistan went through Bloody Karachi. Today, close to 75 percent of the cargo is shipped through the northern network. While ties between Pakistain and NATO have been worsening since the embargo began, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen showed his annoyance in Brussels when he said it was not business as usual with Pakistain. That created panic in the Pak camp where meetings were called at the highest level. A top US military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "General Allan had been told repeatedly by the Pak COAS that they are waiting for the right time. We expect the route to open any time soon with a candid apology on the Salala incident too." "Everybody is hopeful we can get something back on track with Pakistain," US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the vacated wingtips of Joe Biden... (D-Mass) said in an interview with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "Paks make money off that route...That may interest them at some point... but on the other hand, we can't be prisoners of one relationship with something as vital to our national security interests." Pak Brigadier (r) Rahid Wali Janjua explains the Pak perspective: "Strategic Depth is a redundant theory first perceived by General (r) Aslam Baig. Pakistain has come a long way after that. Pakistain now wants a democratic government in Afghanistan which is legitimate with proportional ethnic representation in it." 'America is not retreating': "Let's agree that any endgame in Afghanistan must include Pakistain, the Quetta Shura and even the Haqqanis as part of the solution, instead of leaving them as lingering problems," says Carl Adams. "The Americans need to realize that a draw in Afghanistan is a win for this trio. Any future guarantors of Afghanistan as a state - powers such as Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... , China, Russia, and NATO - must understand that the solution must include them or there really is no long-term solution." "Transitioning security and governance to the Afghans does not mean America's departure, and I want Pakistain to hear that loud and clear," said Kerry, who has made several trips to Pakistain. "And I want Afghans and the neighbours to hear that loud and clear. America is not retreating from its interests. We're really trying to be more effective about the way in which we're going to support them." "The time has come for some give and take on Afghanistan," says Adams. "Once those concessions are made, we must have international guarantees of a workable peace. Without all that coming together, there will only be another decade of war, with or without the Americans there." Asked about the endgame in Afghanistan, he said: "The US and NATO will not go back, for now."

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Afghanistan

Taliban, Karzai hold secret talks to contain Haqqanis

2010-11-01

Shhh! It's a secret. [Pak Daily Times] Three Taliban leaders secretly met with Afghanistan's president two weeks ago in an effort to weaken the US-led coalition's most vicious enemy, a powerful al Qaeda linked network that straddles the border region with Pakistain. Held in Kabul, the meeting included a wanted former Taliban governor and an imprisoned terrorist who were flown to the capital from Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, according to a former Afghan official. The talks were not directly linked to the Afghan government's efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban and find a political resolution to the insurgency. Rather, they were part of an effort to weaken the Haqqani network, the former official said over the weekend. A Western official confirmed that a meeting between President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai and Taliban figures had taken place, but did not know its full details or the names of all the participants. Led by the ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and controlled by his son, Sirajuddin, the network is thought to be responsible for most attacks against US troops in eastern Afghanistan and has been a key US terrorist target. The network is linked to al Qaeda and is believed to be sheltering its second-in-command, Ayman al Zawahiri. Weakening the network would take the pressure off US forces and bolster Karzai's efforts to broker some kind of peace with the Taliban in portions of the country. The Taliban leaders who met with Karzai are Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the governor of eastern Nangarhar province during the Taliban rule and the current head of the Taliban's Peshawar council, his deputy governor in the Taliban regime, Sedre Azam and Anwarul Haq Mujahed, a terrorist leader from eastern Afghanistan credited with helping Osama Bin Laden escape the US assault on Tora Bora in 2001, the former official said. They spent two nights in the Afghan capital. Kabir is on the US most wanted list. The men were brought by helicopter from Peshawar and driven into Kabul. Mujahed has been in Pak custody since June last year when he was picked up in a raid in Peshawar, where one of several Afghan Taliban shuras, or councils, is located. They spent two nights at a heavily fortified hotel in the Afghan capital before returning to Peshawar by helicopter, where Mujahed was placed again in jug. The US earlier this month acknowledged facilitating some Taliban trips to Kabul but provided no specifics. The Pak military has not commented on such reports. The former Afghan official, who asked not to be named because of his relationship with both the government and the Taliban, described Kabir and his associates as "midlevel" contacts because they have little, if any influence over the more powerful Quetta and Wazoo shuras. Those two shuras provide leadership for the majority of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and are overseen by Mullah Omar. The Haqqani network straddles Pakistain's North Wazoo tribal area and the eastern Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika. ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... The provinces' residents are mainly Pashtun, the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan that is the backbone of the Taliban. But in Afghanistan, where power and strength are measured by tribal influence, Washington and Kabul are seeking to capitalise on Kabir's position in eastern Afghanistan's powerful and dominant Zadran tribe. Both Kabir and Haqqani belong to the tribe. Both Washington and Karzai want to try and sap some of Haqqani's tribal-based strength by bringing Kabir on board and dividing tribal loyalties, the Afghan official said. Karzai has formed a 70-member High Peace Council in an effort to try to reconcile with the Taliban and find a political solution to the insurgency. The Taliban deny that any of their representatives have been involved in talks.

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India-Pakistan

Top Taliban leader among six set free by Pakistan

2010-04-29

ISI gave them new suits, spending money and an escort back to Wazoo. LAHORE: When Pakistani security forces, aided by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) captured the Taliban's second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in February, US officials hailed it as a "turning point" in the war against the Taliban. His arrest was followed quickly by the nabbing of some 10 or more Taliban leaders, though their detention was never officially announced. But the biggest catch among these most recent detainees -- Abdul Qayum Zakir -- has been released, according to an article published in Newsweek magazine. Perhaps he was getting bored lounging beside the hotel pool ... Zakir was Baradar's top military commander and one of Mullah Omar's most effective and most feared commanders during the Taliban's fight to defeat the resisting Northern Alliance 10 years ago. The Washington Post recently reported that US officials believe at least two of the arrested Taliban were recently released. And reliable Taliban sources told Newsweek that at least six of those captured leaders were quietly released, Zakir among them. Several other Taliban sources from different regions whom Newsweek interviewed separately confirmed that Zakir had been detained and released. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Newsweek he has no information about the arrest and release of these leaders. "I know nothing! Nothing!" A US government official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak on the record, confirmed to Newsweek that some of the Taliban leaders had been released, but added that it was not surprising, according to Newsweek. "It's not a surprise that in a country where politics is often messy, competing interests are carefully balanced, and relationships are complex, some of those people have been let go," the official says. "We know they don't have a consistent policy that they apply consistently, but that doesn't mean we can't work with them. Quite frankly, we have to," he added. According to the Taliban sources, those who have been freed besides Zakir include Maulvi Abdul Kabir -- who heads the insurgency in eastern Afghanistan from his perch near Peshawar -- three of Kabir's top deputies, and Latif Mansoor -- a senior commander in three eastern Afghanistan provinces. Not a single one of them was ground up in the land campaign in Wazoo ... But several other Taliban sources believed Zakir's arrest and release was more likely a determined effort by Pakistan to once again emphasise Islamabad's influence over and importance to the insurgency that still relies on Pakistani sanctuaries and supply lines, Newsweek reported. Then again, it might be that the Paks are tired of them and just want us to drone-zap them all ...

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Afghanistan

Al-Qaida Suicide Teams Train in Pakistan

2002-12-12

Suicide squads are being trained in Pakistan by al-Qaida operatives to hit targets in Afghanistan and the bombers' families are being promised $50,000, say Afghan and Pakistani sources. The Pakistani government denies the presence of camps here. "Nobody will ever be able to either hide here or establish training camps in Pakistan," said Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikar Ahmed. Ha, ha, ha, ha...he said a funny But privately, some officials in Pakistan's intelligence community and Interior Ministry say they believe there is such bomb training and that it is protected by Pakistani militants and Taliban sympathizers in the Pakistan military. The nephew of Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's No. 3 man, says the training camps are in Bajour and Mansehra, towns in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province where support for the former Afghan regime runs strong. The nephew asked that his name not be used, saying he feared retaliation from both the Taliban and Pakistanis. Unless Maulvi has a hell of a lot of nephews, I'd leave town. He said he agreed to an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday because he believes suicide bombing is wrong. He also seemed interested in getting U.S. attention and possibly a reward. BINGO, he's greedy and stupid. There is a $10 million reward for Mullah Mohammed Omar, the deposed Taliban leader, but not for most other Taliban officials. The nephew said he has not talked to any U.S. official, and would not approach the Pakistanis because he suspects they are in league with the Taliban. OK, he's not that stupid. Kabir's nephew had a video taken at a graduation ceremony in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta where Kabir and several top Taliban leaders, including former intelligence officials and governors, were present and some spoke. He also had an audio cassette from speeches given at a mosque in Quetta in which Kabir spoke on behalf of Mullah Omar, condemning the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and calling on the faithful to wage a holy war against the Americans. During two weeks of training, would-be bombers are told by Arab instructors that they are waging war on the Jews and "will be martyrs and go straight to heaven and their family will get $50,000," Kabir's nephew said. I must have missed that large Jewish community in Afganistan. They are trained in small groups and not all are told they must die, he said. Some are taught to detonate bombs by remote control, and to drive explosives-laden trucks into Afghanistan, he said. So far two Afghans and one suspected al-Qaida operative trained at these camps have infiltrated Afghanistan but have been arrested, the nephew said. He did not know whether these were the same people whose arrest was announced by Afghan authorities two months ago after they came from Pakistan in a car packed with explosives. Most likely. The nephew said one of the men arrested was an Iraqi. Last month, an Iraqi man was arrested in Kabul, the Afghan capital, but the nephew couldn't say whether he was among those trained in Bajour, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunar. U.S. forces are scouring the mountains that crisscross Afghanistan's Kunar province searching for Taliban and al-Qaida operatives, and for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Iranian-backed rebel commander. A Western intelligence source in Pakistan also said training was going on in Bajour and in Mansehra area. He said there had been reports that Hekmatyar loyalists had purchased several vehicles for the purpose of carrying explosives. Afghan, Pakistani and Western sources say Kabir has forged an alliance with Hekmatyar, who is also being sought by the United States. The AP also acquired books written in both Pashtu and Persian extolling the virtue of carrying out suicide attacks. It cited verses from the Islamic holy book, the Quran, to support suicide attacks. Most Muslim scholars, however, say suicide is against Islamic teachings. Which has not stopped them from preaching it. Reports of trained suicide squads surfaced last September when one of Hekmatyar's military commanders, Salauddin Safi, told AP that some Taliban had formed an alliance with Hekmatyar's followers, a view shared by Western intelligence sources, who believe Kabir is working with Hekmatyar. With money from al-Qaida and Iran, the two groups formed a new alliance called Lashkar Fedayan-e-Islami, or the Islamic Martyrs Brigade, which Safi said would target U.S. military installations. In a separate interview, a man who served in the Cabinet of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan's army protects the Taliban. "They have even given them their jeeps to get around safely. Why do you think none of the top Taliban who came to Pakistan have been arrested?" he said. The nephew said Kabir is protected by Pakistan's intelligence and its military. He travels freely throughout Pakistan, from its deeply Islamic tribal regions to the southwestern city of Quetta and to Haripur, a city 35 miles north of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. His entourage includes former Taliban governors, intelligence chiefs and, in recent weeks, Maulvi Ghazi, special adviser to Mullah Omar, the nephew said. Omar is high on the U.S. wanted list. With the October election that gave religious hard-liners control of the strategic provinces that border Afghanistan, fugitive Taliban have become increasingly brazen, even launching fund-raising campaigns. During the three-day Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr that ended last weekend, $50,000 was raised by former Taliban Maulvi Baram, the nephew said. The Taliban even issue receipts, which say the money is for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban called the country. Pledge week, wonder if it's tax deductible?

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India-Pakistan

Network Moves Cash to al-Qaida Fugitives

2002-11-28

A murky network of smugglers, politicians and spies is moving money to Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives, slipping their operatives out of the region and ferrying others in, according to intelligence officials and a former Taliban commander. Yes. It's the same old tiresome story. The religious fanatics are trying to subvert and reconquer Afghanistan. Pak fundos and intel thugs, regarding the country as their "sphere of influence", insist on trying to civilize the place down to Pakistani levels. And they want to export that sort of civilization to the rest of the world... Several al-Qaida men have left Afghanistan for Algeria in recent days, Fazul Rabi Said Rahman, a former Taliban corps commander, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. A European intelligence source says others are slipping quietly into the region, and the numbers are on the increase. "If you have money you can go anywhere, without any problem," Said Rahman said. Conrad wrote "Heart of Darkness." If I could write, I'd write "Heart of Corruption." Another former Taliban official said several al-Qaida fugitives were smuggled out of Afghanistan in recent weeks. They were taken out through Pakistan's Tirah Valley, a remote region ringed by towering peaks. The Tirah Valley neighbors Tora Bora. The man who is said to have helped them escape, an al-Qaida sympathizer named Anwarul Haq Mujahed, himself eluded capture this month. He's probably on R&R in Peshawar right now, until the heat's off... American and Afghan special forces in search of Mujahed raided several places in eastern Afghanistan, including offices of the International Islamic Relief Organization, where he was believed to have contacts. They also raided his father's farm in Farmada, according to Haji Zaman Khan, an ally of the U.S.-led coalition during last December's assault on Tora Bora. The farm, a well-known refuge for al-Qaida members during and after the Taliban rule, was bombed several times during the U.S.-led coalition's campaign. Oh, look, Ethel! It's one of the usual suspects... Mujahed's father, Maulvi Yunus Khalis, was a U.S.-backed commander during the 1980s war against the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan. He swore allegiance to the northern alliance government, but Taliban in hiding say he has remained close to his onetime al-Qaida friends. "Mujahed helped at least 100 of the al-Qaida men who wanted to escape Afghanistan," Zaman told the AP on Tuesday. "Just in the last month I know he helped some escape." Younis must be 184 years old by now. I guess young Mujahed is taking up his father's burden... Before U.S. Special Forces could locate him, Mujahed was spirited out of Nangarhar province, through Dar-e-Nur in eastern Afghanistan, to Laghman province and then to Kabul. From there, he was flown aboard an Afghan Ariana flight to Pakistan's frontier city of Peshawar, assisted along the way by men loyal to Khalis. Oh, dear. I am so-o-o-o-o surprised... Some of the people alleged to have helped him are members of the Afghan government, including the Nangarhar military chief Hazrat Ali and Nangarhar governor Din Mohammed. This is the "feet firmly ensconced in both camps" tactic that's an Afghan tradition. Some of these double-crossers actually triple cross, and some make it a quadruple-cross. I think the world's record is 11 crosses, but by then, who was counting? Said Rahman, the former Taliban commander, said several al-Qaida men have left for Algeria in recent weeks. It was unclear whether they were the same men spirited out by Mujahed. It's also unclear whether they're the same Salafists who're cutting people's throats at random in Algeria, or whether they're simply getting a little rest before moving on to cut people's throats in Europe... While some al-Qaida men are moving out of the region, others are coming in, say European intelligence sources. They are bringing money with them, helped by smugglers and traders. The network that allows the traffic to flow virtually unhindered allegedly includes Pakistani militant groups — like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed — Pakistani intelligence and even the upper echelon of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, one of the key partners in a religious coalition that rules Pakistan's strategic North West Frontier Province and which holds considerable sway in southwestern Baluchistan province. "We are happy that our brothers are in power here. We expect it will be even easier," said Said Rahman. I suspect so, too... He said many top Taliban in hiding move particularly freely in Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital. Among them is Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the No. 3 man in the Taliban, and Abdul Razzak, former Taliban interior minister. The Taliban's former brigade commander at Spinboldak, Maulvi Jalaluddin, has close ties with Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam officials, like the group's general secretary, Ghafour Haideri, says Said Rahman. "He knows the border very well, how to move across without a problem, how to move others across, who will help and how to get their help," he said. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam loyalists and members of the Pakistani intelligence agency, an open ally of the Taliban before Sept. 11, have helped senior Taliban move freely and communicate with others about their whereabouts and planned meetings. An active transit route is the Afghan town of Allah Jirga, which hugs the border with Pakistan and where Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's leader, has tribal links, said Said Rahman. I've been mentioning that close relationship regularly for approximately fifteen months now. It has something to do with a JUI functionary being one of the signators of Binny's declaration of war against us... Haideri dismissed allegations that he protects Taliban, but said his loyalties are with the ousted movement. "We neither give them money nor shelter, we just support them ideologically," said Haideri. "As far as the Taliban are concerned, our support to them was open. We belong to a religious family. The world knows that we never concealed our love and support for Taliban." The world knows that JUI is, in fact, just like them. The world hasn't yet embarked on a campaign of hunting JUI officials and members down and killing them without mercy, but it'll come. It'll come. If it doesn't, we're going to lose the war.

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Afghanistan

Ex-Taliban, Warlord Said in Talks

2002-11-15

Pakistan's intelligence service, publicly allied with the United States in the fight against terrorism, is trying to broker an alliance between leaders of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime and a fugitive warlord who is on the United States' most wanted list, a former Taliban official said Friday. Meeting in secret in the dust-clogged streets of Peshawar, he said Pakistan's intelligence service has been acting as a go-between with the remnants of the Afghan religious regime and supporters of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a key rebel leader who was based in Iran and is now sought by U.S. forces. "Already the mujahedeen (fighters) of Hekmatyar and of the Taliban are together, but some of the leaders still have differences," the official told The Associated Press. They tried to come together a few months ago, with the Secret Army of Doom, but it looks like they had a falling out over who was going to be potentate. The official, who is in hiding and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence agency has also been meeting with the former Taliban governor of eastern Nangarhar province, Maulvi Abdul Kabir, believed to be the Taliban's third highest-ranking member. "Kabir is very close to the ISI," he said. But the ISI dismissed allegations that it was trying to broker any agreement, saying its loyalties are to the government of President Pervez Musharraf. Unless, of course, they get a better offer.

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Terror Networks

Zawahiri speaks...

2002-10-08

In a taped interview, a speaker purported to be Osama bin Laden's top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, threatens new attacks on the United States, its allies and its economy. Guess he's not that dead, dammit... The authenticity of the audiotape, obtained by Associated Press Television News on Tuesday, could not be independently confirmed. It was not known when the tape was made – though it includes references to the United States' recent standoff with Iraq and a July 1 U.S. bombing in Afghanistan. So he's alive and kicking as of the beginning of July... Al-Zawahri was said to be alive in a satellite telephone conversation reportedly intercepted over the weekend by U.S. and Afghan intelligence. The conversation was between fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and his former deputy prime minister, Maulvi Abdul Kabir, an Afghan intelligence official told The Associated Press. The report could not be confirmed by U.S. officials. Wonder if that was the same conversation where Binny's salaams were passed on? The audio interview attributed to al-Zawahri was obtained by APTN in the form of a video compact disc. On the disc, the interview is played against a video backdrop with English subtitles of the conversation, along with scenes from the Sept. 11 attacks and other news footage. A title in the video identifies the speaker as al-Zawahri and says the video is a production of the As-Sahaab Foundation for Islamic Media. The foundation is credited with earlier al-Qaida statements that appeared on Web sites and with the so-called farewell video of Ahmed Ibrahim A. Alhaznawi, a Sept. 11 hijacker. Sounds like an Arabian public service company... In Washington, U.S. intelligence was analyzing the al-Zawahri tape to determine whether it is his voice and when it was made. Presumably it could be voiceprinted against previous pronouncements. Doesn't take long, and it's not really complicated... In the recording, an unidentified person interviewed the speaker said to be al-Zawahri, who issued a warning to what he called "the deputies of America," to get out of the Muslim world, specifically Germany and France. "The mujahid youth has already sent messages to Germany and France," the speaker said. "However, if these doses are not enough, we are prepared with the help of Allah, to inject further doses." A May 8 attack on a bus in Pakistan killed 11 French engineers and an April 11 blast at a synagogue in Tunisia, a former French colony, killed 16 people, including 11 Germans. Both attacks have been linked to al-Qaida. And the snuffies who dunnit have been wiped up... "As for America itself, it should expect to be treated the same way it has acted," the man on the tape says, pointing to suffering of Muslims in Afghanistan and in the Palestinian territories. "It will have to pay the price. ... The settlement of this overburdened account will then indeed be heavy. We will also aim to continue, by permission of Allah, the destruction of the American economy." Terrible, when you have no one to blame but yourself the hegemonistic Merkins... The speaker said the year-old U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan "has not achieved its goals. ... Neither America nor its allies have been able to harm the leadership of al-Qaida and Taliban, including Mullah Muhammad Omar and Sheik Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect them all. They are both in good health." Nobody's said Mullah Omar's dead. Where does this keep coming from? Maybe if they keep pointing out the one's alive, that'll make the other one alive, too... Asked what he saw as the motives for the United States campaign against Iraq, the man said, "Its first aim is to destroy any effective military force in the proximity of Israel." Its second aim, he said, is to consolidate the supremacy of Israel over Arab countries. "America and its deputies should know that their crimes will not go unpunished," he said. "We advise them to make a hasty retreat from Palestine, the Arabian Gulf, Afghanistan and the rest of the Muslim states, before they lose everything." Like al-Qaeda has? Atwan said he believed the recording was part of a "media campaign" by al-Qaida's leaders aimed at showing "that they are still intact, they are still powerful." They're not dead... He suggested al-Qaida's change from video to audio interviews could mean its leaders are being more careful and making it impossible for specialists to interpret any background or scenery. A background of rocks looks like rocks everywhere. A background of trees looks like trees everywhere. A corpse on video looks dead, but you can put a speech together by splicing words from a few dozen talks the corpse gave when he was alive. If you try to do the same thing with videotape, his beard will grow and shrink in the course of the speech, and people will be able to compare the video to what they've seen before. If the guy's not dead, but he's deathly ill, that won't go over really well with the followers — they'll sit down and wait until he's pegged out to see if the checks keep clearing. I'm still not convinced...

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Afghanistan

U.S. Troops Face Suicide Attacks?

2002-09-26

Alicia sends this, along with the note that "AP catches up with Rantburg". Heh heh... What the heck? It's only been a month or two... Taliban fugitives and Afghan fighters loyal to a former foe have allied and are getting arms and money from al-Qaida and Iran for planned suicide attacks on American troops in Afghanistan, one of their leaders says. Wotta surprise. Who'da thunkit? The new alliance is said to be based in eastern Afghanistan and involves men led by several former high Taliban officials and fighters of Hezb-e-Islami, a group headed by former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Hekmatyar's force was one of the U.S.-aided guerrilla armies that fought the Soviets in the 1980s. He fled to Iran in 1996 after his group was defeated by the Taliban, but he has recently been seeking to incite a ``holy war'' against American forces in Afghanistan. October, a year ago, is "recently"? The new alliance is known as Lashkar Fedayan-e-Islami, or the Islamic Martyrs Brigade, a Hekmatyar military commander, Salauddin Safi, told The Associated Press at a secret meeting Wednesday in this frontier city. He means Peshawar. Where else? Well, maybe Quetta... ``There will be suicide attacks, ambushes by suicide attackers and bomb blasts against soldiers as they are moving from place to place and when they go out and disperse into smaller numbers, like in searches,'' he said. "We're gonna be a regular Hamas, just you wait and see..." The threat comes against a backdrop of unsolved bombings in Afghan cities, and there already have been sporadic attacks on U.S. military posts as well as on American troops patrolling the countryside. Safi said the alliance plans to attack only American military targets. He said the group had nothing to do with a Sept. 5 car bombing that killed 30 people and wounded more than 150 in Kabul, the capital. "Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. Karzai din't get killed, so it wudn't us..." Western intelligence sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed there is an alliance between the Taliban and Hekmatyar. They also said they believe the alliance is receiving money from a variety of sources, including the al-Qaida terror network and Iran. You heard read it here first... However, neither Western nor Pakistani intelligence sources could confirm the existence of the new group or the formation of suicide bombing squads. Safi said the alliance's fighters are from the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami. ``Al-Qaida is not helping with men, but with money,'' he said. Iran also ``is helping with money and weapons,'' Safi said. And maybe a bit of training here and there. It's hard to believe Iran would be dumb enough to get involved in a half-assed scheme like this... ``Iran needs Hekmatyar because Iran is an enemy of the United States and Hekmatyar is too.'' Safi wouldn't give any specifics about the types of weapons or amounts of money. "Big weapons. Lotsa money... Washington previously accused Iran of trying to destabilize Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government by sending Iranian commandos to Afghanistan to incite tribal feuding and by supplying arms and money to opponents of his U.S.-backed government. Iran denied the charges. And the "Iranian agents" turned out to be locals... Another Hezb-e-Islami loyalist, who identified himself only as Abdullah, told AP in a separate interview that Khalil Saeed Deek, a Palestinian-American banished from Jordan last year on suspicion of links to Osama bin Laden, had brought money into Pakistan for Hezb-e-Islami. Abdullah said Deek, who was extradited from Pakistan to Jordan in December 1999, is living in Pakistan under the protection of Hezb-e-Islami. He refused to elaborate. So he's a money man, and a go-between with the al-Qaeda. Put him on the list, have a shootout, and send him to Guantanamo... Hekmatyar, who lived in Iran during the Taliban's six-year rule, was forced to leave by the Iranian government earlier this year after Washington demanded his expulsion. ``But the request for him to go was friendly. Still he travels back and forth between Afghanistan and the frontier areas of Pakistan and Iran,'' said Safi, who was interviewed in a house in a high-walled compound deep within Peshawar's old city, at the end of a sandy lane overrun by garbage and prowled by scavenging dogs. Sounds like a pretty classy class of people making this here revolution... After Afghanistan's Soviet-backed Marxist regime was defeated in the early 1990s, Hekmatyar and leaders of other Afghan factions plunged into a ruinous civil war that eventually provoked the rise of the Taliban religious army. ``The situation is not like it was before -- now we are united,'' Safi said. There's a certain unity among some — not all — Pashtun tribes. Knock off Paktia, Paktika, Khost, and Kunar and Afghanistan's not much more unstable than, say, Punjab. As the center of mass for the country's xenophobic, inbred, uneducated Pashtuns, clinging to jihad like a drunk to a gin bottle, these areas will represent a danger to the country for years upon years to come... He said Hezb-e-Islami commanders in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province forged the alliance with three top men in the ousted Taliban regime: Maulvi Abdul Kabir, vice president and the No. 3 Taliban official; Noor Jalil, a deputy interior minister; and Jalil Shinwari, a deputy justice minister. The alliance is strong in eastern Afghanistan, which includes Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces, he said. ``But in other parts of the country we are still trying to form alliances. There are some Taliban who don't want to work with Hekmatyar.'' I guess even Talibs have some pride... Safi came to Peshawar earlier this week with Hekmatyar's top commander in Kunar, Kashmir Khan. Khan's base was targeted by U.S. rockets last month. American soldiers have been operating in Kunar province for three months searching for Taliban, al-Qaida and Hekmatyar fighters, but with little fanfare. But lotsa bitching by the local Pashtuns... Hekmatyar has been circulating clandestine newsletters and audiotapes calling for jihad against American forces, and Safi brought out a new message. The one-page letter in the Pashtu language announced the formation of the Martyrs Brigade and it warned Afghans living near U.S. military bases to ``leave immediately lest you face any problem because we are going to start our struggle very soon against them.'' "Yeah, just leave your homes and move away, 'cuz we're goin' into action!" At a U.S. military base called Camp Salerno in southeastern Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Martin Schweitzer said they were aware of Hekmatyar and the threat posed by his loyalists and the Taliban. ``Bring it on,'' Schweitzer said. ``We're more than ready to handle any of the threats that are out there.'' Seems like he has a pretty good handle on the Pashtun threat. As I've mentioned a time or two, the Talibs beat up Hekmatyar, the Merkins beat up the Talibs. Now Hek thinks he's going to be able to beat up the Merkins. That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense...

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