From Long War JournalAfghan officials have announced the capture of Maulvi Dastagir following a raid by Afghan intelligence operatives in the western province of Herat, the Pajhwok Afghan News center reported on Sunday. Dastagir, a key Taliban field operative in neighboring Badghis province, was seized in the Kamarkalagh district just north of HeratÂ’s provincial capital. Dastagir spoke regularly with regional media outlets and was the TalibanÂ’s unofficial spokesman for their northwestern faction.
In November, he spoke with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting regarding the Taliban’s plans and objectives for the desolate northwestern area, which is lightly guarded by a small contingent of Spanish NATO forces. “We are trying to open up this route just as we did in the past,” he told the agency. “Our policy is different up here. We have openly engaged the government and foreign forces in the south, but in the north we are quietly expanding our area. The government is weaker here than in the south and the mountains have provided good terrain for our operations.”
He went on to claim the Taliban controlled most of Badghis province but had refrained from attacking the province’s district capital, Qala-e-Naw. “We would like to occupy the province right away, since the capital [Qala-e-Naw] and some of the districts are still under government control. We could do it in one single attack, but we are waiting for a larger operation. Our strategy is to go for many provinces at once.”
NATO and Afghan forces launched Operation Eagle Claw II, a joint security operation targeting DastagirÂ’s men, shortly before his interview. Mullah Qayum, a local Taliban commander originally from neighboring Faryab province, was arrested along with 17 of his men during the operation. Another tactical level Taliban commander, Mullah Babai, was killed along with 20 of his fighters before Operation Eagle Claw II concluded in late 2007.