Afghanistan: Talibaan commander killed - full text
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Spokesmen for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced on May 13 that a senior Talibaan leader, Mullah Dadullah, had been killed in fighting in Helmand province.
Immediate context
Reports on March 24 indicated that Afghan forces had launched their largest ever independent offensive against the resurgent Talibaan, killing 69 militants in Helmand province, while NATO-led peacekeepers also launched a major operation to increase security in the region. Fighting continued throughout April and May, with notable incidents including a major offensive near Herat on April 27-29 in which 135 Talibaan fighters and at least 30 civilians were reported to have died, and accusations that 21 civilians had been killed by US-led air strikes on May 8. The Talibaan had continued a campaign of kidnappings and killing of hostages, with the capture of an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, and his Afghan driver and interpreter on March 5. In a controversial deal, Mastrogiacomo's release was secured, but not that of his driver (who was beheaded) nor his interpreter, Ajmal Naqshbandi, who remained a hostage until being beheaded on April 8. Two French aid workers and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by the Talibaan in Nimroz province on April 3. However, one of the French workers, Celine Cordelier, was released on April 20 and the other, Eric Damfreville, on May 11.
Reaction and outlook
Mullah Dadullah was described in a BBC online news report on May 13 as one of the most brutal of the Talibaan's leaders. ISAF officials expressed the opinion that he would swiftly be replaced. However, residents of Herat were reported by the BBC to believe that his death would weaken the Talibaan's position.
The government of Hamid Karzai, based in Kabul, held little sway outside the capital and in areas controlled by powerful factions, most of which made their money through the illegal opium trade. According to a UN report in February 2001 the Talibaan had virtually eliminated the opium trade, but since the US-led invasion, opium harvests had increased dramatically, reaching record levels in August 2006. On Feb. 15, 2007, US President George W. Bush announced that an extra 3,200 troops would be deployed in Afghanistan, bringing the total to the highest level since the invasion in 2001. Peacekeeping operations were hampered by the inhospitable mountainous terrain and by long-standing ethnic and tribal rivalries and feuds.
On May 8, 2007, the secretary general of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, was reported as believing that military operations could not resolve the Afghan crisis, and that only reconstruction and positive nation-building would end the unrest.
Historical context
Afghanistan's strategic location made it a prime area for occupation throughout history. The area was thought to be one of the first in which humans domesticated plants and animals during the Stone Age some 50,000 years ago, and Kabul was believed to have been founded between 2000 and 1500 BC. The Zoroastrian religion was introduced in about 600 BC and the region, known as Bactria, formed part of the empire of the Persian Darius the Great (in about 500 BC), although the Persians suffered frequent revolts by the Afghans. It was briefly ruled by the Greeks under Alexander the Great (about 329-326 BC) and a Greco-Buddhist culture arose before the invasion of the White Huns or Hephthalites (about 400 AD). Islam was introduced in 652 AD. Genghis Khan (about 1219), Tamerlane (about 1370), and Babur the Moghul (1504) were amongst those who invaded, and were met with fierce resistance. Persian control and influence persisted in Kandahar and other areas, with Nadir Shah of Persia occupying large areas of the country in 1736. Ahmad Shah consolidated Afghanistan and created a powerful Afghan empire in the late 18th century despite persistent internal strife and conflict with Persia. In 1836 the UK invaded and the first Anglo-Afghan war was fought from 1839 until the British were driven out in 1842. British and Russian forces sought to control the surrounding areas during the second half of the 19th century and the second Anglo-Afghan war was fought from 1878-80. In 1893 the British declared the Durand line as the border between British India and Afghanistan, leaving many Afghan tribal areas in what is now Pakistan, where they remain a hotbed of al-Qaida militancy and a source of friction between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghanistan declared independence in 1919, and in 1921 the defeat of the British in the third Anglo-Afghan war (1919-21) marked the achievement of complete Afghan autonomy. An Afghan monarchy was founded in 1926. In 1947 Pakistan was created, but in 1949 Afghanistan formally denounced the Durand line as the border and declared an independent "Pathanistan". In 1973 the Afghan monarchy was overthrown in a coup and a republic declared. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 and occupied Afghanistan until starting to withdraw in 1988. In 1986 US opposition to the Soviet occupation resulted in the US supporting rebellious groups of mujaheddin fighters, manipulating ancient factional and tribal rivalries. The Soviet withdrawal was followed by civil war, until a complex peace settlement was reached in 1993. A renewed civil war was launched by the Talibaan, a group of extreme Islamists seeking to create a hardline Islamic state, who were able to exploit the instability of the fractious coalition of mujaheddin forces. The Talibaan took control of Kabul in 1996. In the late 1990s, US demands for the extradition of Osama bin Laden by the Talibaan were resisted and following the attacks on the USA of Sept. 11, 2001, the USA led an international coalition to drive the Talibaan from power, invading in October 2001 and again using ethnic and factional divisions to create an internal Afghan anti-Talibaan coalition. The Talibaan were ousted in December 2001 and a government under the USA's favoured candidate, Hamid Karzai, was formed. However, remnants of the Talibaan regime refused to surrender and pockets of resistance to Karzai's government continued to attack Karzai's forces and peacekeeping troops. The opium trade flourished, with record harvests in August 2006, a month that also saw a huge upsurge in violence.
