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Talibs retaking districts in Zabul province
Afghan authorities have lost control of at least seven districts in troubled southeast Zabul province, the deputy governor said Monday.
"We’ll let you know when we find them again."
But tribal chiefs and elders, rather than resurgent Taliban forces, were in control of the areas, Mawlawy Mohammad Omar said.
This guy is a maulavi, not a mullah like everyone’s favorite cyclopsean theocrat.
Yeah! So he outranks Mullah Omar!
"There is no government control over Atghar, Naw Bahar, Shinkay and Shamazai in the south of the province," deputy Zabul governor Omar told AFP by satellite phone from the provincial capital Qalat. "There are some other districts such as Shahjoy, Dai Chopan and Khak-e-Afghan where the government has no control but the Taliban do not control these areas either."
I’m guessing Omar is referring to "the government" as being him in this instance given that Karzai doesn’t appear to wield much power outside of the immediate vicinity of the capital. And if this is that much of a problem, why doesn’t Omar use his satellite phone to call the capital?
He said Taliban were fighters were moving around the districts on motorbikes. "But they aren’t powerful enough to threaten the administration," Omar said. Government militiamen were unable to go to the seven districts due to a lack of men and equipment, he said.
I’d guess that the mad turbans on motorbikes would be part of that group of "Omar’s Angels" that we heard so much about in Quetta last month.
He said government forces withdrew last month when US-led coalition forces disarmed them due to "wrong information" from the governor of southeast Ghazni province. "Government troops in Naw Bahar district left the area when Americans detained the district chief and disarmed his men," Omar said. He said government forces could return to the districts if the coalition returned their weapons.
Okay,so that explains why the New Bahar district doesn’t have any weapons ... what about the others?
Omar had earlier told the private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press that "Taliban or their supporters" were in the districts, and that they were preparing to try and take Qalat.
That’s not good. Do they have any weapons there? This is Afghanistan, for God’s sake, I thought that everybody was supposed to have guns! Maybe it might be a good time to phone up the Merkins at Kandahar Airport to call for a little help instead of talking with the media, Omar.
Zabul, which neighbours Pakistan, is on the frontline of increasing attacks by Taliban fighters regrouping in southern Afghanistan and in Pakistani border regions.
Borders Pakland, does it? Boy, ain't that a coincidence...
Around 150 suspected Taliban were killed in September during a major joint US-Afghan offensive against mountain hideouts in Zabul. A powerful bomb went off Saturday at the headquarters of Zabul’s governor but no-one was hurt in the explosion or in another blast at an arms depot.
Hek’s boys at it again?
The province is deemed "high risk" by the United Nations, which has banned its personnel from working there.
A description that could easily apply to most of Afghanistan ...
UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council on October 24 that the Taliban had established de facto control in "several border districts" neighbouring Pakistan, including Barmal and Gayan in Paktika province and Maruf in Kandahar.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-11-10
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=21062