Anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan
Introduction
Over the summer of 2012, southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan have witnessed an increase in and intensification of small-scale anti-Taliban uprisings. The uprisings began in the southern province of Ghazni and expanded into areas of the southern and eastern provinces of Paktia and Laghman. Similar uprisings have also been reported in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. In addition to these armed uprisings, anti-Taliban youth protests have also been staged in several other provinces, e.g. Badakhshan, Faryab and Ghor.
These uprisings differ from those staged by anti-Taliban militias, formed in recent years by the U.S. and Afghan governments. Such government-backed militias have failed to register gains against the Taliban, due to corruption and militant infiltration of the ranks of the Afghan security forces. The fresh waves of anti-Taliban uprisings appear to have begun without the Afghan government's support, though in some areas, local police are siding with the uprisings.
While the uprisings appear to be the result of popular anger against the Taliban's decision to close schools and hospitals, it is also possible that some local elders – who have joined the uprisings – are seeking to assert their traditional authority, in view of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan slated for 2014. Some former Afghan leaders, who fought against the Soviets in the 1980s and are now sensing a new opportunity to claim a stake in power, might also be behind these uprisings.
Ghazni Province – The Center Of Anti-Taliban Uprisings
Wali Mohammad, leader of uprisings in Andar district
In Ghazni province, where the anti-Taliban movement has been strongest, uprisings first broke out against in Andar district, where local residents began resisting the Taliban's closure of schools in the summer of 2012. In late-May 2012, villagers killed 11 Taliban militants and captured 15 other militants following a public uprising against the Taliban.[1] Andar district chief Sher Khan Yousafzai noted that there were clashes between residents and militants in the Painda Mohammad and Ibrahimkhel areas, where residents had previously warned the Taliban against continuing their activities, including closing schools.[2]
Haibat Khan, a local tribal elder in Andar, said the people would not allow anyone to close schools and create unrest in the area. Abdul Jamay Jamay, a member of the Ghazni provincial council, said that people were discontent with the Taliban and had started to oppose the militants.[3] Wali Mohammad, who was the first to take up arms against the Taliban in Andar, vowed: "I will lead the public uprising until we get the freedom [from the Taliban]."[4] Although several tribesmen and elders died in the initial days of the ensuing fight against the Taliban, the uprising continued to expand. Later, the uprising spread into the districts of Deh Yak and Maqur.
In early June 2012, people in the province's Deh Yak district took up arms against the Taliban in anger against the forced closure of schools. According to a June 3 report on the Afghan website pajhwok.com, Ghazni Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada said that the infuriated people of Deh Yak district had risen up in arms against the Taliban militants, demanding that the schools reopen immediately.[5] "In order to deal with the current situation, I call upon all Afghans to stand up and be counted. This is the best way to salvation and prosperity," the governor said, adding that the public uprising would not only benefit the two districts, it would also help improve security in other parts of the country.[6]
Mohammadullah, a resident of the Walangiz area of Deh Yak, confirmed the armed struggle against the Taliban in the two districts, adding that the people want immediate access to health and education facilities.[7] "On May 30, residents clashed with the [Taliban] fighters in our area. This morning, [July 30], a similar fight erupted in the village."[8] Another resident, Khan Wali, said: "We believed the firefight was between rebels and security forces... Later, we came to know that people in the area were fighting against the insurgents.... The government has been raising empty slogans about bringing security to Deh Yak. You will see how residents stabilize their area."[9]
On the night of July 31, nine Taliban militants were killed and two militants captured during a public uprising in the Maqur district of Ghazni province. Amanullah, a leader of the uprising, told a local journalist that the fighting had started two days prior in the Koh Band, Babnamgul, and Sang Yased areas after the militants closed schools and killed innocent people.[10] Security Chief of Maqur District Zarawar Zahid said that several villages of the district were cleared of Taliban militants on July 29 in a campaign launched by the villagers, and added that the residents had emulated the "freedom fighters" in Andar district.[11] The security chief also noted, though without revealing details, that local residents in other districts of Ghazni province were likewise due to start campaigning against the Taliban.
The key cause behind most of the uprisings appears to be the Taliban's move to close schools and hospitals. "The local residents fighting the Taliban militants said the education facilities were closed for their children by militants, which forced them to pick arms against them," according to an Afghan media report.[12] The dispute between the Taliban and the Andar tribe first arose when the Taliban closed down all government schools for teaching subjects they deemed to conflict with Islamic teachings and for preaching Christianity, demanding that a syllabus of their choice be taught at these schools.[13]
Those fighting in the uprisings are united under the banner of the National Uprising Movement, which began without government support. In Ghazni province, the anti-Taliban fighters are united under the leadership of Lutfullah Kamran.
Uprising Leader Lutfullah Kamran: "Schools, Our Clinic, Our Roads, Our Hospitals, Our Markets – Everything Was Closed [By The Taliban]"; "The Only Choice We Had Was To Start An Uprising"
Uprising leader Engineer Lutfullah Kamran (right)
A June 26 report carried by Al-Jazeera noted: "They look like Taliban fighters, but they are Afghans fighting the Taliban. They call themselves the National Uprising Movement. It started three months ago, and [the leader of the uprising] Engineer Lutfullah Kamran said the Taliban were preventing progress for the Pashtun people." The report cited Lutfullah Kamran himself as saying: "'Schools, our clinics, our roads, our hospitals, our markets – everything was closed. We feel like we are slaves. No one cares about us, not the government, not the Taliban. The only choice we had was to start an uprising.'
"[There are four] villages under the control of the National Uprising fighters. They say at first there were only a few fighters. There are now several hundred spread over four villages. They say the people here support them. [As one fighter said]: 'I'm happy to give up my life and my wealth for them.'
"The commander [Lutfullah Kamran] says the Taliban have them surrounded, and the fighting is intensifying. This week [i.e. the third week of June 2012], the Taliban burnt a local home... [A village woman] says she begged the Taliban to search the house [to check] that no one was home, but the Taliban doused it with fuel and set it on fire. She burned her feet trying to rescue the Koran, but could not save it.
"The men originally tried to fight with the Taliban against the Americans, if the Taliban would reopen schools, the clinic, the market... The Taliban refused, saying surrender or fight. The villagers' decision was swift [in favor of fighting against the Taliban]."[14]
Tribal Elder Juma Gul: "One Of My Sons Became A Martyr; I Have Brought Four More To Fight, And I Will Keep Fighting Until We Are All Dead"
According to the Al-Jazeera report, tribal elder Juma Gul commented on the motivation behind the uprising by saying: "'One of my sons became a martyr. I have brought four more to fight and I will keep fighting until we are all dead.'"
It went on to say: "The commander [Lutfullah Kamran] calls the Taliban on his radio. He can hear them, but there's no response. The Taliban say they want to avoid bloodshed and have appointed a delegation to negotiate with the [uprising] movement. [The Taliban say the] Taliban fighters who burned the home are being punished... Former Taliban members are among the new group, and [the Taliban] claim the group is supported by the Afghan government and the U.S. embassy. [Lutfullah] Kamran says this is not true [and] that he would fight the Americans, but his first priority is securing his people's future."[15]
The report again quoted Lutfullah Kamran as saying: "'There was a time when seven to eight thousand students graduated a year; now, only two to three hundred students are graduating a year [because of the lawlessness caused by the Taliban]. That's why we are fighting them – to save the next generation.'"
Describing the anti-Taliban fighters, the report noted: "The weapons and the motorcycle transport give them the appearance of the Taliban, but these Afghans have decided they must fight for the rights the Taliban and the government has failed to give them."[16]
Tribal Elder: "The Taliban Are Insulting Our Elders, They Are Killing Our Elders, And We Decided To End This"
In July 2012, tribesmen began organizing themselves to fight against the Taliban in the eastern province of Laghman. On July 18, nearly 200 tribesmen held a meeting in the town of Alishing to chalk out a strategy against the Taliban.[17] At the meeting, tribal elder Ghulam Rasoul was quoted as saying: "We're fed up with the Taliban and their brutal aggressions against our people... We're standing up against them and will not allow them to oppress our people and kill our people."[18]
Sarhadi Zwak, a spokesman for the Laghman provincial government, told a journalist that the uprising in Alishing was "the latest in a series of similar moves across the province."[19] The uprising leaders have since pushed back the Taliban, and several schools which were closed by the militants have been reopened.
According to a media report, tribal elder Noor Zaman remarked: "The Taliban are insulting our elders, they are killing our elders, and we decided to end this. Today, we have gathered to tell the Taliban that they are no longer welcome in our village. If they try to enter our village again, we will kill them."[20]
Anti-Taliban uprisings were also reported in the province's Daulat Shah and Badpakh districts. Laghman Governor Muhammad Iqbal Azizi noted in a statement that residents in the Alishing and Daulat Shah districts had refused to submit to a group of outside militants who told them that killing supporters of the Afghan government was justified.[21] One of the reasons behind the anti-Taliban uprising in Laghman province was the destruction of electricity poles. According to a report by the Afghan website pajhwok.com, five Taliban militants who were plotting to blow up electricity poles were killed by residents in the Badpakh district of the province early July.[22] The militants were led by Taliban commander Ibrahim, a Pakistani national.
In southern Paktia province, the anti-Taliban revolt began after members of the Andar tribe living there rose up against the local Taliban, in an expression of solidarity with their brethren in the Andar district of Ghazni province.[23] Several other districts of the province have also witnessed anti-Taliban uprisings.
In the Mirzaka district of Paktia, tribal elders rose up after the Taliban kidnapped seven men. Tribal elder Zabit Mangal said: "We decided we were not going to let the Taliban get away with bad activities in our area. We fought with our own rifles and our own resources... The government didn't give us a single round [of ammunition]."[24] According to a report, Ainullah Khan, a school principal, organized 500 students to fight against the Taliban attempts to shut down the schools in the Barkali area of Waigal district.[25]
In the western province of Ghor, residents also stood up to the Taliban militants. According to a report, families residing in the province's Pasavand district prepared 500 young volunteers to help the government fight the militants.[26] In eastern Kunar province, more than 300 men in the villages of Chinar and Petaw, residents of Marawara district, joined the National Uprising Movement to fight against the Taliban in late July 2012,[27] while students and teachers in eastern Nuristan province have defied death threats to stage public protest against the Taliban's closure of schools.[28]
Conclusion
Commenting on the anti-Taliban uprisings, a mid-level Taliban source in Pakistan told the French news agency AFP: "Taliban fighters used to control most of the provinces, but now they are losing ground in areas like Helmand, Kunduz, and, more recently, Kandahar, Zabul, and Ghazni. They lost ground to tribal militias because they don't let people access basic services, especially school[s]."[29] Waliullah Rahmani, executive director of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, said: "These (uprisings) are real, and they (have been) motivated by the insurgents' bad behavior in the past 10 years... I hope this movement can grow, because it offers a good alternative and solution for providing stability in Afghanistan."[30]
While the anti-Taliban uprisings may be small in scale, the Taliban have yet to evolve a strategy to combat them. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's umbrella organization) has sought to blame the Afghan-government-supported militias for the public uprising.[31]
On their part, the Taliban too have expanded their operations against Afghan and NATO troops, hoping to capitalize on the political situation emanating from the planned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. It is as yet too early to say whether the anti-Taliban uprisings could evolve into a major political and military factor in Afghanistan and what impact they may have on the political outcome in the country.
* Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI's South Asia Studies Project (www.memri.org/sasp)
Endnotes:
[1] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), May 26, 2012.
[2] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), May 26, 2012.
[3] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), May 26, 2012.
[4] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), July 10, 2012.
[5] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 3, 2012.
[6] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 3, 2012.
[7] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 3, 2012.
[8] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 3, 2012.
[9] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 3, 2012.
[10] Outlookafghanistan.net (Afghanistan), August 1, 2012.
[11] Khaama.com (Afghanistan), July 30, 2012.
[12] Khaama.com (Afghanistan), July 30, 2012.
[13] The News (Pakistan), July 25, 2012.
[14] Aljazeera.net (Qatar), June 26, 2012.
[15] Aljazeera.net (Qatar), June 26, 2012.
[16] Aljazeera.net (Qatar), June 26, 2012.
[17] Dawn.com (Pakistan), July 20, 2012.
[18] Dawn.com (Pakistan), July 20, 2012.
[19] Dawn.com (Pakistan), July 20, 2012.
[20] Dawn.com (Pakistan), July 20, 2012.
[21] The News (Pakistan), July 25, 2012.
[22] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), July 2, 2012.
[23] The News (Pakistan), July 25, 2012.
[24] Usatoday.com (U.S.), August 5, 2012.
[25] Usatoday.com (U.S.), August 5, 2012.
[26] Centralasiaonline.com, July 6, 2012.
[27] Centralasiaonline.com, July 27, 2012.
[28] Tolonews.com (Afghanistan), July 9, 2012.
[29] Dawn.com (Pakistan), July 20, 2012.
[30] Usatoday.com (U.S.), August 5, 2012.
[31] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), June 30, 2012.
