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Afghanistan
U.S. Aircraft Force Taliban To Abandon Afgan Hideout
2003-04-04
Heavy pounding by U.S. fighter aircraft drove Pakistani Taliban holdouts from their mountain hideout, where cleanup crews today found a transit camp and a staging ground for hit-and-run assaults by the hard-line religious militia group and its allies. "We discovered a base with tents, food, weapons. It was here that Pakistanis Taliban coming from Pakistan would stay before moving out to other parts of the country," said Fazluddin Agha, district police chief of Spin Boldak.
Naturally, they're coming from Pakistan. I've come to the conclusion that there isn't a domestic anti-Karzai movement of any import or real capability.
U.S. air support launched from Bagram air base pounded the Tor Ghar mountain range, where about 60 Pakistanis Taliban fighters were dug in after fleeing a border village during fighting a day earlier. Col. Roger King, an Army spokesman, said that more than 35,000 pounds of ordnance was dropped or fired on the Pakistani rebel positions over a 14-hour span. "It's a pretty good use of close air support," King told reporters at Bagram air base, located north of Kabul. About 45 Special Forces soldiers and 250 Afghan soldiers drove the Pakistanis Taliban into the mountains from the village of Sikai Lashki, 25 miles north of Spin Boldak, the gateway to southeastern Afghanistan. Several Afghan fighters were injured, as were their Pakistani Taliban enemies, according to Agha.
I think it's a great thing that the Afghan troops are picking up more of the load for fighting off the invaders. Damned good sign.
Evidence is mounting in the southern regions of Afghanistan that the Pakistanis are Taliban is reorganizing and has found an ally in the ISI Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. "Six months ago their attacks were sporadic. But today there is a new organization to the Pakistanis Taliban," Kandahar's 2nd Corps commander, Khan Mohammed, said at the sprawling compound where Taliban supreme leader Mohammed Omar once lived.
Hek is most likely across the border. This is going to keep going on as long as they have a safe haven in Pakland.
Posted by:Steve

#5  Re: hek and Taliban

Hek is a pashtun and and a fundi, so he has that in common with Taliban. After communist regime fell hek was one of the warlords who contested for control of Kabul and afghan govt with gen Dostum (uzbek, secularist) and Rahabani (Tajik, Fundie) Pakistan, discontented with the disorder, and wanting to use afgan as trade route and route for influence into central asia, and worried about Indian and Russian influence, supported a group of fighters/students recruited among afghan refugees in Pakistan called the taliban. One of the first things they did was chase off Hek, who went to Iran. Dostum and Rahabani kissed and made up and formed Northern Alliance, which lost Kabul and other cities, but held out in nothern mountain strongholds, with Russian support. They also had support of Ahmed Massoud, a key leader from anti-soviet war (and tajik). taliban imposed islamic regime far stricter than hek or Rahabbani - the most extreme muslim fundie regimi in the modern world. They continued to press against remnants of Northern Alliance, while becoming more enmeshed with Al qaeeda, and receiving support from Pakistans ISI. that was status quo on sept 9, 2001. On Sept 10, 2001 AQ operatives assasinated Ahmen Massoud (clearly anticipating US strategy in response to WTC attack and rightly seeing Massoud key to Northern Alliance)
On Sept 11 everything changed of course.

After formation of Karzai regime (with support of Dostum, more reluctant support of Rahabbani) Hek was expelled from Iran (which had opposed Taliban, been friendly to post-com Russian policy, and was trying to make nice with Karzai regime) Hek then went into afgan and into violent opposition to Karzai and Americans, with an on-again off-again alliance with Taliban.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-04-04 09:24:58  

#4  This is all becoming similar to the Apache campaigns along the Mexican border 130 years ago.
Posted by: Don   2003-04-04 09:14:16  

#3  'reorganizing' will be used to show Bush's failure in Afghanistan, but it's the best thing to happen. they make a better target in a group. like smashing an ant-pile, you have to wait for them to regroup before smashing them again.
Posted by: Dixie Normus   2003-04-04 09:06:58  

#2  Evidence is mounting in the southern regions of Afghanistan that the Taliban is reorganizing and has found an ally in Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a rebel commander who has been labeled a terrorist by the United States and hunted by its troops.


I thought Hek WAS a Talibani?
Posted by: Ptah   2003-04-04 08:39:28  

#1  Additional: "Eight enemy were killed in action and Afghan forces have taken 15 persons under control," US military spokesman, Colonel Roger King said on Friday. A spokesman for the Kandahar authorities, Khalid Pashtun, said two government soldiers were killed in the fighting and another two were wounded.

Posted by: Steve   2003-04-04 08:07:45  

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