A.Rafay
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ISLAMABAD: The Obama administrations desperation to engage the Afghan Taliban for peace talks before the scheduled withdrawal of the Coalition Forces from Afghanistan can be gauged from the fact that the US has hailed the release of several Afghan Taliban leaders by Islamabad including Commander Anwarul Haq Mujahid, the most wanted chief of the Tora Bora Mahaz which had carried out numerous deadly attacks against the coalition troop in Afghanistan, killing dozens of Western troops.
Anwar had helped Osama bin Laden escape from a US attack in Tora Bora in 2001. This 46-year old who has been in Pakistani custody since his arrest in 2009, was among several Afghan Taliban leaders freed by the Pakistan government last week following extensive negotiations between high-ups in Islamabad and a visiting delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council.
Well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad say the release of Afghan Taliban leaders was motivated by the Obama and Karzai administrations as Washington and Kabul appear to have reached the conclusion after years of endless fighting that a deal with the Afghan Taliban militia led by Mullah Mohammad Omar was the only way to secure peace in the trouble-stricken Afghanistan. The primary concern is for the future of the war-torn country after the withdrawal of foreign forces at the end of 2014 which is not so far away.
As per the agreement between Pakistani and Afghan peace mediators, the freed Taliban leaders are not to be handed over to the Afghan government and they can travel wherever they like. Subsequently, most of the freed Taliban leaders have already joined their families in Pakistan, including Anwarul Haq Mujahid who was once wanted by the coalition forces. He is the son of Maulvi Yunis Khalis, a senior Afghan mujahedeen leader based in the eastern province of Nangarhar who was well-known for battling the Russian forces during the occupation from 1979-1989. Jalaluddin Haqqani, the aged leader of the deadly Haqqani Network, had served as a commander under Maulvi Younis Khalis who was the first one to have welcomed Osama bin Laden into Afghanistan after his expulsion from Sudan in 1996.
Following the July 2006 death of Younis Khalis, Anwarul Haq took control of the Hizb-e-Islami Khalis, a faction of the fractious Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan and gave tough resistance to the coalition forces. His militia was held responsible for several deadly attacks in Afghanistan, including the April 2008 suicide combing against a drug eradication team operating in the district of Khogiani which killed 19 people.
Anwars Hizb-e-Islami Khalis and Tora Bora Military Front were also involved in the March 2007 ambush that targeted a US Marine Special Forces unit outside Jalalabad, killing many and forcing the US command to withdraw the Marine unit from the war theater.
Interestingly, however, the release of the detainees has not only been welcomed by the Afghan Talibans spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid but also by the United States Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Richard Hoagland, US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson as well as the US State Department spokesman.
We welcome that Afghanistan and Pakistan are working together on concrete steps to advance reconciliation, said the US State Department spokesman a day after the Taliban leaders were freed.
The same day, the US Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Richard Hoagland welcomed the release of the Taliban prisoners, describing it as a move that would ameliorate the reconciliation process with the Taliban. A day later, the newly-appointed US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson said that the United States backed efforts by Islamabad and Kabul to seek a negotiated settlement of the decade-old conflict, including the release of the Taliban detainees.
But there are those in Islamabads diplomatic circles who are astonished over the Obama administrations sudden U-turn with regard to some wanted Afghan Taliban commanders for whom the US-led coalition forces had been gunning in the past. The prime example is Anwarul Haq Mujahid, who had formed the Tora Bora Mahaz, named after the valley in his native Nangarhar province that was heavily bombed by the Allied Forces in December 2001 to get Osama and other al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. He was arrested from Shamshatoo camp in Peshawar in 2009.
The fact, however, remains that Anwarul Haq was never put in prison by the Pakistani authorities and kept at a safe house. Thats why Anwar was able to deliver a speech at the February 1, 2011 funeral of Awal Gul, a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who had died in custody. Guls funeral was held in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.
A desperate US hails release of
Anwar had helped Osama bin Laden escape from a US attack in Tora Bora in 2001. This 46-year old who has been in Pakistani custody since his arrest in 2009, was among several Afghan Taliban leaders freed by the Pakistan government last week following extensive negotiations between high-ups in Islamabad and a visiting delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council.
Well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad say the release of Afghan Taliban leaders was motivated by the Obama and Karzai administrations as Washington and Kabul appear to have reached the conclusion after years of endless fighting that a deal with the Afghan Taliban militia led by Mullah Mohammad Omar was the only way to secure peace in the trouble-stricken Afghanistan. The primary concern is for the future of the war-torn country after the withdrawal of foreign forces at the end of 2014 which is not so far away.
As per the agreement between Pakistani and Afghan peace mediators, the freed Taliban leaders are not to be handed over to the Afghan government and they can travel wherever they like. Subsequently, most of the freed Taliban leaders have already joined their families in Pakistan, including Anwarul Haq Mujahid who was once wanted by the coalition forces. He is the son of Maulvi Yunis Khalis, a senior Afghan mujahedeen leader based in the eastern province of Nangarhar who was well-known for battling the Russian forces during the occupation from 1979-1989. Jalaluddin Haqqani, the aged leader of the deadly Haqqani Network, had served as a commander under Maulvi Younis Khalis who was the first one to have welcomed Osama bin Laden into Afghanistan after his expulsion from Sudan in 1996.
Following the July 2006 death of Younis Khalis, Anwarul Haq took control of the Hizb-e-Islami Khalis, a faction of the fractious Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan and gave tough resistance to the coalition forces. His militia was held responsible for several deadly attacks in Afghanistan, including the April 2008 suicide combing against a drug eradication team operating in the district of Khogiani which killed 19 people.
Anwars Hizb-e-Islami Khalis and Tora Bora Military Front were also involved in the March 2007 ambush that targeted a US Marine Special Forces unit outside Jalalabad, killing many and forcing the US command to withdraw the Marine unit from the war theater.
Interestingly, however, the release of the detainees has not only been welcomed by the Afghan Talibans spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid but also by the United States Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Richard Hoagland, US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson as well as the US State Department spokesman.
We welcome that Afghanistan and Pakistan are working together on concrete steps to advance reconciliation, said the US State Department spokesman a day after the Taliban leaders were freed.
The same day, the US Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Richard Hoagland welcomed the release of the Taliban prisoners, describing it as a move that would ameliorate the reconciliation process with the Taliban. A day later, the newly-appointed US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson said that the United States backed efforts by Islamabad and Kabul to seek a negotiated settlement of the decade-old conflict, including the release of the Taliban detainees.
But there are those in Islamabads diplomatic circles who are astonished over the Obama administrations sudden U-turn with regard to some wanted Afghan Taliban commanders for whom the US-led coalition forces had been gunning in the past. The prime example is Anwarul Haq Mujahid, who had formed the Tora Bora Mahaz, named after the valley in his native Nangarhar province that was heavily bombed by the Allied Forces in December 2001 to get Osama and other al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. He was arrested from Shamshatoo camp in Peshawar in 2009.
The fact, however, remains that Anwarul Haq was never put in prison by the Pakistani authorities and kept at a safe house. Thats why Anwar was able to deliver a speech at the February 1, 2011 funeral of Awal Gul, a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who had died in custody. Guls funeral was held in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.
A desperate US hails release of
