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Foreign Taliban Fighting in Badakhshan's Warduj: Officials
[Tolo News] Hundreds of foreign Taliban faceless myrmidons are present in the Warduj district of north-eastern Badakhshan province and are fighting security forces, officials said on Saturday.Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews news hound, who visited the area this week, said that hundreds of hard boys, including their foreign counterparts, attacked Teergeran military base in Warduj over the past four days and have tried to take control of the strategic outpost. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... Afghan National Army troops, with heavy artillery, were sent in as reinforcements to help local security forces. In addition to assisting in Warduj, troops also launched a military operation against faceless myrmidons in Chakeran village which is believed to be a safe haven for the Taliban hard boys. According to a former hard boy in the district -- 16-year-old Abdul Manan -- foreign faceless myrmidons fight alongside local Taliban hard boys. He said: "The Taliban is very well equipped and they have any kind of weapons and any kind of fighter, locals, foreigners, young and old." Manan said he bravely ran away from home and joined the hard boy group only to eventually leave to return home. Local officials meanwhile said that the Taliban launched their local offensive from Akhsher village in Badakhshan. Initially they had only seven members but that has grown to over 250 local faceless myrmidons -- including 10 former coppers, said officials. This figure excludes the imported muscle. Officials said the faceless myrmidons have also stolen security force vehicles following attacks on checkpoints and that some vehicles were handed over to them by former local police commanders. Habibullah Sharifi, a 37-year-old local police commander said that foreign Taliban members fight alongside Afghan Taliban. "Warduj is very important for the Taliban. They well know that if they take control of Warduj they will easily take control of other districts," he said. A number of analysts believe that the strategic Silk Road, which links Afghanistan to China, is one of the main reasons why faceless myrmidons are trying to take control of the district. "This is a historical way which is a link to East Asia and to South Asia and a link from Asia to Europe," said one analyst, Hazrakhsh Hafizi said. Today Afghanistan has close relations with China and it seems that a number of regional countries which are involved in regional events are not happy about this, he said. Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... acting governor of Badakhshan, Shah Waliullah Adib said: "Right now, hundreds of foreigners and their families have been placed in Khostak area of the district [Warduj] and they are organizing attacks and the local Taliban does not have any authority. This group is also trying to pave the way for hard boy networks such Jundullah, Ansarullah and Turkmenistan, to enter the country," said Adib. Posted by: Fred 2015-08-02 |
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