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Daily Afghan Report


		[ 19 December 2006 ] Neo-Taliban Commander Discusses Strategy In Afghanistan Mullah Abdullah Sarhadi, who claims to be a close associate of former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, said his movement's goal from its "beginning" has been "the establishment of an Islamic system and the supremacy of the Koran," Dubai-based Geo News Television reported on December 17. Speaking with Geo from an unspecified location, Sarhadi said the Taliban are "ready to confront the infidels of the entire world." According to Sarhadi, after a sluggish beginning the Taliban are now fighting "the enemy very steadfastly...waging guerrilla warfare" in every subdistrict, district, and province of Afghanistan. Because of Taliban activities, "the Americans, the Jews, and Christians are now winding up their occupation" of Afghanistan. According to Sarhadi, Mullah Omar has appointed leaderships in each district who are responsible for supervising military operations and acting as his representatives. On a personal note, Sarhadi added that when the Taliban regime was facing defeat in late 2001, he was captured in northern Afghanistan and eventually transferred to the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Sarhadi did not disclose when he was released from U.S. detention. AT Five Engineers Kidnapped In South-Central Afghanistan The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on December 18 in Kabul that five engineers working for the Rural Development and Rehabilitation Ministry were abducted by unknown kidnappers in Ghani Province on December 17, the Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press reported. A search operation is under way to find the missing persons. Mullah Mohammad Anas Sharif, purporting to be the Taliban commander in Ghazni, claimed responsibility for kidnapping the engineers, saying that their fate will be decided by the Taliban leadership, Pajhwak Afghan News reported on December 18. According to Sharif, the five are being investigated regarding their positions in the Afghan government and their past activities. AT Afghan General Detained For Spying For Pakistan General Khair Mohammad was detained recently on charges of spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), AFP reported on December 18. An unidentified spokesman for the Afghan national intelligence agency told AFP in Kabul on December 18 that Khair Mohammad has been arrested "over an act of treason," adding that the general has "confessed to working for ISI." According to the spokesman, the general worked in the Afghan Defense Ministry and provided ISI agents information about the ministry's structure and names and contact numbers of high-ranking officials. Khair Mohammad reportedly also provided information about Western military headquarters in Kabul. The general allegedly met with ISI agents three times in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and also maintained "regular" contact with a diplomat at the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul. Khair Mohammad has reportedly confessed to receiving thousands of dollars from his handlers. AT Kabul Daily Assails Drug Barons The government-run daily "Anis" said in an editorial on December 18 that drug traffickers are the "main and real enemies" of Afghanistan. "Thanks to their boundless illegal wealth, [drug lords] have penetrated the highest levels of the government structure" and "have established relations with senior government officials," the commentary added. Counterterrorism and counternarcotics strategies "will not succeed" unless the Afghan government and NATO forces take joint action "to arrest" the drug lords "and bring them to justice," "Anis" asserted. According to the commentary Afghans, while hearing about the arrest of drug lords, have not witnessed any trials of the "members of the drug mafia." If noted drug lords "along with their powerful supporters" are brought to justice, "Anis" wrote, Afghans will truly "trust their government." While Afghanistan's narcotics problem has worsened lately, NATO has tried to sidestep the issue, leaving the Afghans to deal with an overwhelming situation, the daily wrote. AT archive homepage

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