The untold reality of Kandahar Operation (Part 1)

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 06:10 -

As all the readers of Alemarah website might know that a major enemy operation is taking place in Kandahar province which has been ongoing since the last one and a half month. Lately the enemy, through its biased media, claims to have ridded the surrounding districts of Mujahideen presence and also claims to have gained substantial ground against Mujahideen in the areas. Alemarah website has recently had the opportunity to interview the district commander of Dand district, Mullah Abdullah Mubarak and ask him questions regarding the untold reality of the situation.

Alemarah: Firstly could you tell us about the ongoing enemy operations in Dand district and why did they come about?

Mullah Abdullah Mubarak: Dand district is located at a very close proximity to Kandahar city and it has a large number of Mujahideen operating inside so the enemy became frightened that it might, just like Dand, lose the entire city to Mujahideen and hence started their preparatory operation firstly in this district in the month of Ramadan. The enemy soldiers entered Mahlajat, Chalghor, Nakhoni, Khanjakak, Zila Khan and Salawat area by helicopters and in huge numbers. Mujahideen, due to a tactical maneuver, did not want to engage them in normal battle but decided to use guerilla warfare in order to cause them maximum damage. We decided to mine all the main roads and when the enemy could not make any inroads, they decided to bulldoze local’s farms and fields so to gain at least some ground but that attempt also proved futile as they suffered massive casualties due to Mujahideen also mining those ways, ambushes and missile attacks. To put it bluntly, a day hasn’t passed so far that at least 4 to 10 blasts do not detonate on their patrols. Due to their immense suffering, the enemy decided to bomb the area randomly using cruise and other missiles from which civilians were killed, their houses and fields wrecked and many were forced to flee the district. After this criminal act, the enemy turned the local’s houses into their military barracks. So far the enemy has abandoned most of those barracks and in the areas which they do exist, they have neither come out nor can they due to heavily mined areas and Mujahideen waiting in ambushes. But even these bases are located in such places that providing of logistics will be a big problem in the future.

Alemarah: It is said that the civilians are the only ones who have been affected by this operation. Could you elaborate on this?

Mullah Abdullah Mubarak: Yes, to sum up the genocidal behavior of the enemy in one sentence, it would be that this kind of crime against civilians has not been done in the entire history. I swear by Allah that so far only 5 of our Mujahideen have been Martyred, 3 have been injured and none have been captured but the prison of Kandahar has been filled by civilians. I would like to summarize the crimes against civilians of Dand by giving a few examples:

1. When the enemy came to Mahlajat in the morning, the blocked all the main roads and blind folded all those who came their way. Nearly all the locals of Dand have shops in the city where they sell fruits and vegetables so throughout the day the barbarians handcuffed and imprisoned around 300 civilians by the name of Taliban.

2. A few days earlier, the American invaders besieged Ghra and Mahi Village located in Zila Khan area of Dand district. Most of the people had emigrated from these villages except 97 people which were village elders and children who had come to collect some o their belongings but even those were not spared as they were stripped naked, blind folded and then imprisoned. They were released 12 days after enduring many hardships.

3. All their new barracks are built inside civilian houses and on their lands. They have bulldozed local’s lands, fields, farms and houses as they try to make inroads against Mujahideen. Some 500 homes and shops have been bulldozed due to this process in Nakhoni area alone. Similar crime has been carried out in Khanjakak, Chalghor and all the other areas. They recently blew up locals raisin houses in Chalghor. Nearly all incidents involve the demolition of homes with the owners belonging inside them.

Alemarah: The enemy says that they have killed and captured many Mujahideen, their leaders and many of their bases have been destroyed. How much of this is true?

Mullah Abdullah Mubarak: The American invaders decided that they would make check posts in very close proximity to the next one by destroying the homes and fields of civilians and that would rid Mujahideen from the area but did not realize that Mujahideen were going to use guerilla tactics. Now the enemy has barracks in various areas but don’t have control 50 meters beyond their posts and thus cannot come out. As for our casualties, only 5 of our Mujahideen have been Martyred and 3 wounded and none of our leaders have been either killed or captured.

Alemarah: How has this operation affected the Mujahideen and what do you say about the claims of Ahmad Wali Karzai that Mujahideen bases have been destroyed throughout Dand and Kandahar?

Mullah Abdullah Mubarak: I don’t know how Ahmad Wali can make such claims when in fact he cannot even peacefully sleep in his own house due to constant Mujahideen attacks on it. If he was really honest in his claims then he should just once, walk freely in Kandahar city let alone Dand and Panjwaee districts. All these claims are false. As for the number of our groups and bases, they have not decreased compared to spring and summer time. Due to the enemy operation we decreased the number of Mujahideen but now that the enemy has become tired and lost morale, those Mujahideen are coming back to carry out operations because their enemy numbers have become vast and much easier to target.

I want to congratulate the Afghan nation in particular for this victory of Mujahideen because we have not suffered any serious damage and the enemy has lost because they cannot sustain this large force for long especially that their newly built bases and barracks are becoming harder and harder to supply with logistics.

(to be continued)

NOTE: This material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban, Taliban spokespersons . Posting of this material it is shared for information only.