Afghan Civilian Uprising...?
Afghans finally taking the responsibility to act on their own behalf? Looks like it. Doing so, furthermore, in areas where the authority of the Afghan government does not extend.Where, in fact, the Taliban have been well ensconced. And because the Taliban have felt comfortable there, with no opposition coming their way to dislodge them from their provincial perches, they've felt confident in extending their Islamist agenda in ways that have become a concern to the villagers in Andar district.
"The Taliban are very strong, but, according to my belief, the community is on our side and they cannot stand against us. They were applying the law of Pakistan here in Afghanistan. They were creating their own rules on the orders of Pakistan." Lotfullah Kamrani, Commander of anti-Taliban fighters in Andar
Initially the Taliban were welcomed by the villagers. All that changed when the Taliban began imposing their vision of stringent Islamism. The edicts that closed schools and bazaars were not much appreciated by the villagers. "The schools were closed, the shops were closed, my sons were not able to go to school. We had talked about what to do many times in the past, but we decided to rise up in the spring", explained a father of four.
Four months of fighting between the new militias comprised of over 250 men in Ghazni province, with daily skirmishes against the Taliban has resulted in the clearing of an enclave of Andar district previously under tight Taliban control. The Taliban have been forced out of about a sixth of Andar's villages. And since then the residents have been able to reopen shops in the district centre and formerly closed boys' schools.
Motorbike militias patrol fields and villages. They arm themselves with whatever happens to be available. Even weapons left from the Russian occupation and the civil war that followed. A former intelligence chief in the province claims the revolt was orchestrated by a faction dating from the Russian invasion founded by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an enemy of NATO and President Hamid Karzai.
The fighters themselves conceding that some of their number had belonged to that group now deny there is anything political about their formation. A former governor and senior Hizb-i-Islami commander is now playing a lead role in the uprising: "It's a 100% civilian uprising. It doesn't belong to any political party, but we are made up of all the old groups."
As for NATO commanders; they're interested and keeping a close watch.
"The basic situation in Andar is they don't like us and they don't like the Taliban. They want to be left alone essentially. Are we looking at it closely? You bet we are. Is it another uprising like we saw in Iraq? I think that would be a leap." Brigadier Genera Lewis Boone, International Security Assistance Force.
Labels: Afghanistan, Conflict, Pakistan, Taliban
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, August 15, 2012
<< Home