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| Afghanistan | |
| Fierce clashes between rival Afghan Taliban factions | |
| 2015-11-09 | |
| [DAWN] Fierce festivities have erupted between two rival Taliban groups in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, reportedly leaving dozens dead in the first internecine fighting since a breakaway faction of the Islamist movement appointed its own leader. The skirmish was taking place in southern Zabul province between fighters loyal to the widely-recognised Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and followers of Mansoor Dadullah, a deputy of splinter-group leader Mohammed Rasool who announced his own faction Tuesday. "The fighting started from early Saturday morning in Khak-e-Afghan and Arghandab districts of Zabul province. About 60 fighters of Mullah Dadullah and 20 of Akhtar Mansoor have been killed," Ghulam Jilani Farahi the deputy police chief for the province told AFP, adding 30 others were maimed. The two districts are under Taliban control, and it was unclear how Farahi arrived at his figures. "The fighters killed are mostly from Mansour Dadullah's group, including imported muscle from Uzbekistan," he said. Islam Gul Seyal, the provincial governor's front man, confirmed the battle and said fighting was still going on. Mansoor Dadullah was appointed as second deputy for Rasool, who was named the leader of the splinter group in a mass gathering of dissident fighters on October 3, in the remote southwestern province of Farah, according to an AFP news hound who attended the meeting. It was unclear whether the new group could rally wide support but its emergence poses a fresh hurdle to potential peace talks with the government. It also exposes simmering rifts within the movement since the announcement in July of the death of longtime leader 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....
...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 Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... holy warriors, according to Mohmand Nostrayar, governor of the Arghandab district of Zabul province. It is unclear how much support there is for Rasool, a veteran Taliban official. A Taliban capo loyal to Mansoor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to news hounds, said Rasool's faction had joined forces with IS gunnies because it didn't have the numbers otherwise. "It is obvious that Mullah Rasool's group can't face Akhtar Mansoor alone so they need IS. We said that before and now it has been proven," he said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Good Intel is much too valuable to use. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-09 07:28 |
| #1 The death of Mullah Omar was not announced until years after his death. The omniscient CIA stated that it knew of his death all along. The question is: If they did, couldn't they have predicted an internecine struggle would occur in Taleban ranks if it were announced? And eouldn't they have used that struggle to the benefit of the government in Kabul? Or was it the case that under order from Obama they were told to make nice with the Taleban because the White House was trying to ease it back into power in Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: Beldar Phinese2093 2015-11-09 07:05 |