Daily Times

Afghanistan’s former minister of water and power Ismail Khan warned that the signs of civil war in some provinces are seen as more dangerous than the Taliban era of the 1990s. He regretted that the inconsistent resolve of the unity government was pushing the country towards instability and anarchy. On the issue of political representation, he said the government should concentrate on nation building instead of following a foreign agenda. The exponential network of the Islamic State (IS) across the country is another headache for the Ghani-Abdullah administration, which has no formal control over the rogue intelligence agencies and armed forces military command. As IS intensified its efforts to establish more networks across Afghanistan, in Sar-e-Pul, Helmand and Logar provinces, the Daesh group is forcing people to join its rank and file. Fighters of the group hold black flags that have caused panic and fear among the people.

The provincial governor of Helmand province confirmed that a man identified as Mullah Abdul Rauf was actively recruiting fighters for the group. General Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the army’s Corps-215, also confirmed the presence of Mullah Abdul Rauf in the province. The commander told journalists that Helmand had become the centre of military units belonging to IS. “A number of tribal leaders, jihadi commanders, some ulema and other people have contacted me to tell me that Mullah Rauf had contacted them and invited them to join him,” the commander said. On January 18, 2105, the Afghan ministry of interior affairs also confirmed the presence of IS in various provinces. Moreover, in Balkh province, the commander of the ground forces of the Afghan National Army (ANA), General Murad Ali, acknowledged that IS had established a network across Afghanistan. “Masked men active in Zabul and Helmand provinces have raised black flags and are trying to spread their activities to northern parts. They are the same enemies who are a threat to human beings,” Murad Ali said.

In Ghazni province, masked men have begun attacking houses, vehicles and individuals, and carrying the black flag of IS. Afghan government officials say that these people are not Afghans and cannot speak Pashto or Persian. In Kabul, there are speculations that the chief of the IS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had established his contacts across the country when he was fighting alongside the Taliban regime against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. He was then representing the Ishaq extremist group.

The Ishaq group was headed by Mullah Ishaq in Bagrami district. Newspapers reported senior Afghan security officials saying that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been living with Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in a street of Wazir Akbar Khan colony in Kabul from 1996 to 2000. The Afghan News Agency Pajhwok reported that Amir Khan Haqqani, Mullah Khaled, Mullah Anwer and the Taliban’s former education minister, Mullah Hamdullah Naumani, were close friends of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Zarqawi in Kabul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the agency reported, was a good football player in Kabul. He used to play football in the Amani High School grounds. According to The Washington Post’s recent report, his real name is Ibrahim Ali Badri Saamrai, and he studied in Iraq.

A recent video shows Afghan Taliban leaders confirming their allegiance to IS. As efforts intensified by the Pakistan army to eradicate the Taliban from Pakistan, the US designated Mullah Fazlullah a global terrorist. Mullah Fazlullah is the commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and has been listed as a global terrorist by the US State Department. Fazlullah announced that he was behind the killing of Pakistan Army Major General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013, as well as ordering the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012. Another video that created panic in Pakistan last week was the video showing Red Mosque students, in which they extend support to IS Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and request him to ‘avenge’ the 2007 military raid on the Red Mosque. The government in Pakistan has banned some sectarian and extremist groups to streamline efforts in the war against terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Waziristan Agency.

In Afghanistan, the situation is cloudy as the country’s army is fighting on many fronts. In Helmand and Kunar, the ANA is fighting the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Taliban, and in Ghazni and northern parts of the country, the ANA is fighting against IS. On January 17, 2015, NATO Commander in Afghanistan General John Campbell warned that IS was recruiting militants in Afghanistan: “We are seeing reports of some recruiting. There have been some night letter drops. There have been reports of people trying to recruit both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, quite frankly.” The NATO general warned that his organisation was concerned about the group’s spread in Afghanistan. “The Taliban have their allegiance to Mullah Omar and a different philosophy and ideology than IS, but, potentially, there are people who are disgruntled with the Taliban. They have not seen Mullah Omar in years, or they want to go a different way,” the General said.

Notwithstanding the establishment of the unity government in Afghanistan, Pakistan still seems not to be hopeful as President Ghani is unable to address the security concerns of the country. Last week, according to an Urdu weekly magazine report, the Afghan president categorically told the ISI chief that he was unable to cooperate with Pakistan openheartedly, as the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and ANA are not in his control. The president, the magazine noted, told the ISI chief that the ANA and NDS do not take his orders relating to cooperation with the Pakistan army. This means many things are not going in the right direction for Afghanistan. There are speculations in the Afghan capital that IS may possibly carry out attacks against Afghan and Pakistani Shia communities once the group gains arms and support from the majority Sunni communities. Just as we experienced the killing of innocent men and women in Ajristan district of Ghazni province, the IS group also beheaded minor children ruthlessly.

The writer is the author of Punjabi Taliban and can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com