Interview With The Jihadist Official for Badghis Province, Hajj Maulavi Hayatullah al-Akbar

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

80% of the Territory of Badghis Province is under the Control of the Mujahideen

Extract of the Biography of Maulavi Hayatullah al-Akbar: Hajj Maulavi Hayatullah al-Akbar was born 31 years ago to a religious family in the village of Jawi Kanj in the Balamar Ghab

district of Badghis province. He applied himself to Shari’ah studies at an early age, completing his elementary education in his own village. Later, he traveled to the Badghis provincial center for intermediate and higher studies, and from there he went to Herat, the cradle of learning and culture. The Sheikh completed his Shari’ah studies and a while ago was awarded the turban of excellence. As for his Jihadist life, it coincided with his learning. He has offered significant Jihadist services in the different provinces of Afghanistan and was a while ago appointed by the Islamic Emirate leadership as the general official responsible for the Mujahideen in Badghis province, where he continued his leadership of the Mujahideen with all diligence and sincerity. We beseech Allah Almighty to accept from him and his Mujahideen brothers their Jihad in His cause. Al-Somood magazine conducted with him this interview which we invite you to read. Al-Somood: To start, we would like you to provide our readers with a summarized picture of the situation of the Jihad and the Mujahideen in Badghis province. Maulavi Hayatullah: Praise be to Allah, Prayers upon His noble messenger. Thereafter: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan. The Almighty said:

( وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ )

“And those who strive in Our (Cause), - We will certainly guide them to Our Paths for verily Allah is with those who do right.” [Al-Ankabut: 69].

Through the grace of Allah Almighty, the Mujahideen continue their Jihad against the enemy on all fronts of Badghis province with high morale and great fighting spirit. They control most of the area of this province. As for the Crusader enemy and their traitorous or mercenary lackeys, they live in a state of helplessness, and sustain losses in men and equipment every day. The enemy here is in difficulty under the attacks of the Mujahideen and has lost the ability to confront them. They are living on the defensive and have lost the initiative to the Mujahideen. The reason for the victory of the Mujahideen, after the support of Allah Almighty, is the complete cooperation they receive from the Believer people. The people here always stand by the side of the Mujahideen with their persons and their wealth. They make great sacrifices to participate in the Jihad against the aggressors. I say to you with all confidence that there is no one to be found in Badghis province who supports the lackey Kabul administration, or places trust in the aggressors. This is despite the huge media war waged by the enemy and their agents to win over public opinion.

Al-Somood: It would be wonderful if you could relate to us some of the operations the Mujahideen have carried out recently against the enemy in which they inflicted losses.

Maulavi Hayatullah: The trenches of Jihad in Badghis province, through the grace of Allah Almighty, have been hot against the occupiers and their agents for the past nine years. During this period (the Mujahideen) have inflicted great losses on the enemy in men and equipment. As for recent operations, I will mention to you some of the operations the Mujahideen have conducted just during the past 10 days. They are as follows: During the past ten days, the Mujahideen have conducted successful operations in the different districts of Badghis province. For example, the Mujahideen attacked a joint patrol of the occupiers and their agents in the Balmar Ghab district in the area of Jawi Kanj. The attack resulted in the death and wounding of 16 persons, as well as the killing of six lackey soldiers and the wounding of four others, in addition to the complete destruction of an occupier tank. Likewise, another battle occurred in the Moqur district between the Mujahideen and the combined enemy. During it, the Mujahideen destroyed a tank and two Ranger-type troop transports by firing RPGs at them. Also, the Mujahideen attacked enemy bases in Darah Bum district and inflicted many losses. Another important incident to the benefit of the Mujahideen also occurred: 21 armed personnel from the enemy joined up with the Mujahideen including three of their commanders and all their weapons and equipment. The Mujahideen received them warmly and respectfully in compliance with the ruling of the Islamic Emirate on this matter.

Al-Somood: You mentioned 21 soldiers joined the Mujahideen. Who were these people? Were they from the army or the security forces?

Maulavi Hayatullah: Some of these individuals were from the police. Some others were from the local militias. They all joined the Mujahideen under the leadership of Muhammad Abbas, Galbuddin, and chief Habibullah.

Al-Somood: As you mentioned, the enemy is facing defeat on all fronts. They are trying to retrieve these defeats by buying the conscience of some notables and creating local militias. Has the program for creating local militias also been carried out in Badghis province? If it has been carried out, how successful has it been?

Maulavi Hayatullah: As I mentioned to you previously, the people of Badghis stand by the side of the Mujahideen faithfully, and fight the enemy shoulder to shoulder with the Mujahideen. Therefore the scheme for creating local militias has not succeeded despite the wide publicity for it. AS for those who may have slipped because of enemy propaganda, you understand the situation. They have severed their links to the lackey government, as I mentioned to you before. It should not be doubted that there are people who remain working for the militias. But these individuals are few and have no collective identity. As for the general masses, they are in harmony and cooperation with the Mujahideen. Nothing has occurred recently to disturb the serenity that exists between the residents of the province and the Mujahideen, because the people do not heed and are not duped by the propaganda of the enemy.

Al-Somood: What areas are subject to the complete control of the Mujahideen and in which areas do the Mujahideen have an open presence?

Maulavi Hayatullah: The Mujahideen control and actually govern 80% of the territory of Badghis province. If we wanted to define these areas, we would say: the control of the lackey government in the province capital is limited to the center of the market only. As for the outskirts of the city, the Mujahideen are noticeably present there. As for the districts of Qades and Jawand, the Mujahideen control 80% of their area. Similar to those are the districts of Moqur, Balmar Ghab, Sing Tach and Ghormach which are completely under the control of the Mujahideen except for the district centers where the government has headquarters buildings. Although the enemy forces are present in large numbers in the district centers, they do not dare enter the areas of the Mujahideen. Even when they enter those areas, they quickly withdraw after sustaining big losses in men and equipment. As for the roads leading to the enemy centers, they are all under the control of the Mujahideen. Therefore most of the enemy bases are supplied by air. It is noteworthy that the main road connecting the Northern provinces to the city of Herat in western Afghanistan also runs through Badghis and has been under the complete control of the Mujahideen for three years. Enemy convoys are not able to cross by this road. Even if they have the audacity to cross on this road, they are subjected to many attacks by the Mujahideen. As for the areas which remain under the control of the enemy, the residents there understand the truth of lying enemy propaganda. They have begun to correspond with the Mujahideen and summon them to their areas. A few days ago, the Jihadist official in Moqur district informed me that the people living one kilometer away from the province center requested that he send Mujahideen there to save them from the oppression of enemy soldiers and militias. It appears from the current situation that the siege is strongly tightening around the enemy, Allah Almighty permitting. It is not far-fetched that the enemy will leave this area and flee soon, Allah Almighty willing.

Al-Somood: The leadership of the Islamic Emirate decided this past winter that Jihadist operations against the enemy would continue throughout the winter. Did the extreme cold in Badghis province hinder the progress of Jihadist operations in the winter?

Maualavi Hayatullah: Badghis is one of the most important provinces in northern Afghanistan. It is regarded as an important center for the Mujahideen in the northwest of the country. It is also an object of interest for the enemy as well, which in turn increases the attention the Islamic Emirate leadership pays to it. Therefore this province is not empty of Mujahideen in summer or winter. Extreme cold and an unsuitable climate have not hindered Mujahideen operations. Rather, they have continued in the winter like they continue in the summer. We did not allow the enemy to breathe easy during the cold season.

Al-Somood: The enemy, as you said, is facing defeat on the military battlefield and wishes to recover from this defeat through rumor and media war. Among these rumors were his claims of reconciliation talks and the creation of a council by the name of High Peace Council. In Badghis, do you feel any erosion in your position or impact from enemy activities of this type?

Maulavi Hayatullah: Yes, the enemy now wishes to gain through the reconciliation council what he lost on the field of battle. The word “reconciliation” is a good word in the literature of Islam and reconciliation has its place in Islam. But the efforts being made by the enemy are not for the sake of peace. They are rather a swindle to extinguish the torch of Jihad and resistance to the occupiers. It does not merit the appellation of reconciliation or peace. As for the effect and impact of this propaganda in Badghis, it has none. Because the people here stand fully by the side of the Islamic Emirate and the Islamic Emirate has a clear stance on these talks, which is: The Jihad will continue against the occupiers so long as they remain on our land. Rumors of peace will not gain them anything no matter how they inflate it. The Afghan people know well that projects like these are carried out by the occupiers through the hands of their hirelings with the goal of concealing their defeat and diverting attention from their weakness in the face of the Mujahideen. I say to you with all confidence that the efforts of the Peace Council will have no effect on the people of Badghis province despite so many rumors about it.

Al-Somood: The enemies are always claiming that they have inflicted great damage on the Mujahideen. How true are these claims?

Maulavi Hayatullah: Sustaining losses during a battle is a natural affair for both parties in a conflict. The degree of losses, whether they are large or small, however, is a matter connected to the type of operations. Most of the Mujahideen operations are “Hit and Run” strikes, or ambushes against the enemy, detonation of mines against enemy transports and tanks and surprise attacks against enemy convoys. Losses in the Mujahideen ranks are therefore few, while losses in the ranks of the enemy are many. Rarely do the Mujahideen enter into direct confrontations with the enemy in which they may sustain great losses. The enemy had begun three wars: the military war, the financial war and the propaganda or media war. They have been defeated in the military and financial war. Only the media war remains to them. Through this they try to present their losses as few while inflating the losses of the Mujahideen. For example, when an ordinary Mujahid is martyred they announce through their media that he was high-ranking leader. When one of the Mujahideen is killed, they announce the death of ten. When the Mujahideen target them, they arrest members of the general public after the Mujahideen attack and throw them into prison. They then declare that they have arrested such and such number of Mujahideen. They employ all their media resources to promote these claims with the goal of hiding their defeats and raising the morale of their mercenary soldiers. But these are all empty claims which in reality profit them nothing.

Al-Somood: Recently a report was issued by a human rights organization about the killing of civilians in wars. He placed the responsibility for a large number of these deaths on the shoulders of the Mujahideen. What information do you have on this subject? Do the Mujahideen operations actually result in civilian losses?

Maulavi Hayatullah: No, the reality is not what the human rights organization claims. These groups are not neutral in their judgments. Rather they are partial to the kuffar and work according to the instructions of the enemy. They normally present such reports to change public opinion in favor of the aggressors and to conceal the crimes of the occupiers. The clear and irrefutable fact of this matter is that most of the civilian victims have been caused by random bombing conducted by the occupiers by land and air. Some good examples of these are the incidents of bombing civilians that occurred in the villages of Ghazi Abad district of Konar province in which the occupiers killed 75 civilians. This was followed by the incident in which the Americans bombed another group of children who were gathering firewood at the foot of a mountain, killing nine. And all that the occupiers and the lackey government do for those victims is to send a committee of government employees to those areas to investigate the facts. But so far the truth has not become apparent to them, because the occupiers will not permit them to divulge it. Those two incidents are not unique, but they were preceded by other very painful incidents in which hundreds have been killed, and hundreds of others have been wounded, such as the incidents in Konduz and Bala Bluk in Farah province and the incident in Tarka Kalaza in Kandahar and other mass murders in which hundreds of men, women and children have been killed and entire villages have been destroyed along with everyone in them. As for incidents of firing upon passenger buses and killing dozens of innocent people, they are innumerable. It is clear from the above that most of the casualties among civilians are caused by the occupiers and their local hirelings. The leadership of the Islamic Emirate constantly stresses the importance of preserving the safety of civilian lives and property and the Mujahideen always strive to implement the instructions issued by the Emirate leadership in this regard. If one of the Mujahideen committed a crime as an individual against civilians, the local Mujahideen leadership would listen to his offenses and punish him according to Shari’ah law. I will give you an example of this from Badghis province, where one of the Mujahideen had wrongfully killed a person. His case was raised to the Shari’ah court. After investigating the matter, the court punished the killer.

Al-Somood: What are your programs for education in liberated areas?

Maulavi Hayatullah: The Islamic Emirate, through the grace of Allah Almighty, has created a special committee for educational matters in every province. Education directors in all districts of Badghis province also follow matters of education and instruction in the madrasas and mosques. We try to provide every school with the educational curriculum prepared by the Islamic Emirate.

Al-Somood: Finally, what is your message to your Mujahideen and to the general public of Badghis province?

Maulavi Hayatullah: As general official responsible for the Mujahideen, I promise the noble residents of this province that I will serve them to the best of my ability in accordance with Shari’ah law, Allah Almighty willing. My message to the Mujahideen is to strive hard to make the people happy and treat them well and to conduct their tasks with all diligence and sincerity. My message to the general populace is: just as the Mujahideen have been able, through the grace of Allah Almighty and your support for them, to intensify their Jihad and resistance to the enemy until he has been brought to the brink of complete defeat in all areas of this province, we want you also to intensify your support for the Mujahideen by offering yourselves and your money. Vie with one another in helping them in the Jihad against the aggressors and standing firm by the side of your Mujahideen brothers.

Al-Somood: Thank you for giving us this opportunity to meet with you. We beseech Allah Almighty to reward you for your Jihad in His cause.

Maulavi Hayatullah: We also thank you for delivering the message of the Mujahideen to Muslims everywhere.

Translated From The Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan: Al-Somood Monthly Magazine, Issue # 60

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