The Hindu : Rift among Afghan troops over Gardez battle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 11, 2002

International

International

Rift among Afghan troops over Gardez battle

GARDEZ, (Afghanistan), MARCH. 10. A major split opened up among Afghan troops involved in fighting against Al-Qaeda rebels near Gardez today when the area's top local commander demanded hundreds of reinforcements sent from Kabul withdraw from the battle.

"We propose to (Afghan interim leader) Hamid Karzai to instruct the new coming troops to go back to their places of origin," the local commander, Mohammad Ismail, told a news conference.

"I can assure you we obey and support the interim administration. The point is if the issue of Shahi Kot (site of the battle) is resolved, (northern commander) Gul Haider's troops might claim it, which is what we oppose. We take this opportunity that the issue of Paktia be purely left to the people of Paktia," he said, referring to the province where the battle is taking place. Gardez is the provincial capital.

The Afghan ministry of defence on Friday sent nearly 1,000 mainly ethnic Tajik forces, including a number commanded by Haider, from Kabul to join mainly local Pashtun forces who have been fighting Al-Qaeda rebels in a U.S.-led attack around the area of Shahi Kot.

Mr. Ismail is an officer in charge of operations under Afghan General Atiq Allahuddin, who, he said, commands Afghan forces in the U.S.-led campaign about 32 km from Gardez. The U.S. uses two airstrips on either side of the city for the operation in Shahi Kot.

Asked if the Americans agreed that Mr. Haider's men should go home, Mr. Ismail said through a translator: "The Americans are not involved in the internal affairs of our country. They are promoting a policy of anti Al-Qaeda activity. They have not occupied us and are not our bosses."

He said commanders in the province believed disagreements between ethnic Tajiks and Pashtuns could be fanned by foreign influences, such as by neighbouring Pakistan, formerly the Pashtun-dominated Taliban's main backer. "We (in Paktia) have enough forces. The current circumstances are ripe for foreign forces to try to divide us," he said. He said they could recruit "thousands" of forces from the local region. "And that is why I don't see the need for the newcomers to be here." Northern commanders, who were on a trip to the frontline today to coordinate deployment, were not immediately available for comment. The U.S. continued its air assault on the mountain battlefield using B-52s. Asked what the consequences would be on the ground if the proposal went unheeded, Mr. Ismail said: "They are our brothers. Nothing is going to be changed on the ground."

The U.S. military withdrew today about a third of the troops that had been battling Al-Qaeda in eastern Afghan mountains, but a spokesman said the offensive against the Islamic militants would continue to go back there.

_ Reuters

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