Badghis – From empty-handed origins towards imminent triumph
Monday, 21 Rajab 1433
Monday, 11 June 2012 12:45
An interview with Badghis provincial Jihadi chief, Mawlawi Abdul Qudoos
Mawlawi
Abdul Qudoose is a 28 year old from Badghis province’s Maqur district.
He received his education in the various Madrassas of Afghanistan and
Pakistan and has fulfilled his sacred Jihadi duties in Afghanistan’s
various fronts.
Mawlawi
Abdul Qudoos is from amongst the very close associates of the founder
of Jihad against the Americans in Badghis province, Shaheed Mawlawi
Dastageer. He is counted from the ones who began their sacred
empty-handed Jihad against the American invasion in Badghis in very
early challenging stages.
He
was handed the leadership of Daraboom district of Badghis province
during his Jihadi duty and is currently serving as the chief of
explosives development and martyrdom operations in the whole province.
Here
we would like to present to our readers an interview which was
conducted with the said honorable person regarding the Jihadi situation
in Badghis province.
Al-Emara:
Dear honorable Mawlawi Sahib, before everything else, can you give us
information about the rise of Jihad in Badghis province? How and when
did the Jihadi movement begin?
Answer: نحمده ونصلي علی رسوله الکریم امابعد
To
answer your question I must mention that when America began its
invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban lost their control over most of the
northern provinces. So as in the rest of the country, gunmen and
warlords also once again established their presence in Badghis and began
terrorizing and persecuting its believing and Mujahid people.
Just
to mention what I have seen for myself, some 200 to 300 gunmen used to
raid local villages and loot the homes of anyone thought to have links
with the Mujahideen or Taliban while rigorously focusing on finding
weapons and ammunitions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that in
the early years of the invasion, no heavy or light arms were left for
the Mujahideen to use against the occupiers. It was due to these harsh
conditions why combat against the Americans in Badghis got delayed even
tough the people held a great zeal for Jihad but due to lack of weapons,
no operations took place.
In
the year 2007, myself and the former head of Jihad in Badghis, Shaheed
Mawlawi Dastageer were studying in Helmand were we also took part in
operations. Until that time, no Jihadi operations had taken place in
Badghis. Abdur Rahman Haqqani had recently been appointed as the
governor of Badghis by the Islamic Emirate, so with his consultation, me
and Mawlawi Dastageer headed from south towards Badghis with the
intention of Jihad. We were so empty-handed that by the time we reached
the halfway point, all out money was spent. We decided to begin our work
after reaching Bala Marghab district. We initially reached out to an
old Jihadi commander in Bala Marghab’s Paneerak village to furnish us
with weapons and may Allah reward him, he gave us two Kalashnikovs and
then Mawlawi Baaz Muhammad Sahib from Ghortu village handed us an RPG.
We found some more Mujahideen with the passing of time and began Jihad
in the same valley with the stated weapons. After our numbers reached
12, we firstly hit the convoy of security guards of an NGO, the next
night we attacked Bala Marghab district headquarters and various others
check posts later. We operated at night in the initial stages but then
gradually started work during the day after acquiring war booty. Our
numbers increased even more and weapons became sufficient. We
established our Jihadi base in a mountainous area called Houz Kabod,
located near Bala Marghab and as rumors spread throughout Badghis that
Mujahideen have become active, people with Jihadi zeal from all
districts came to this very place in order to participate. In this order
our numbers increased and operations extended towards others districts
like Maqur, Daraboom etc and large swaths of lands fell to out hands.
Shaheed Mawlawi Dastageer was out military chief at that time. That is
how Jihad in Badghis began and two years later, Mawlawi Dastageer was
captured in Herat province and was imprisoned for six months. After
being released, an important incident took place under his leadership in
Bala Marghab’s Aka Zo area where large amounts of booty was seized. On
07/09/1387, a 45 vehicle enemy convoy was hit, half the vehicles
destroyed and half seized while many enemy soldiers were also captured
alive and a huge amount of arms were seized which are still being used
today. Tens of light arms, mortars, 82mm recoilless rifles, D-SCH-K
heavy machine guns, PK machine guns and other various weapons were
seized. After this, Jihad picked up incredible pace throughout Badghis
and then a time came when 80% of its soil was cleansed from enemy
presence.
The
pace of the ongoing Jihad in Badghis, if we look at the realities, is
due to the blessings and sacrifices of those same sincere Mujahideen who
took on the leadership roles and never wavered in their stance despite
facing those harsh and testing conditions. Among those Jihadi commanders
worth mentioning are; Mawlawi Dastageer Sahib, Mawlawi Ismael, Ma’win
Baaz Muhammad, Jamaluddin Mansoor, Abdur Rahman Akhondzada, Mawlawi
Sayed Hakim, Mullah Amar Deen, Mullah Fazal Deen, Mawlawi Abdur Raziq,
Sayed Ali Shah Agha, Mullah Soz Gul and some others.
Al-Emara:
Thanks honorable Mawlawi Sahib for providing heart-felt information
about the past few years Jihad. Now can you shed some light on the
current Jihadi situation in Baghis province?
Answer:
All praise is due to Allah, as you may already know that the Jihadi
operations of Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate in Badghis are proceeding
with great strength at the moment. The majority of its people are either
physically or de facto Mujahideen. Locals who are fed up with the
persecution of the invaders and armed gangs see this sacred armed Jihad
as the only way of salvation. With the blessings of Jihad, most of
Badghis has been cleansed from the enemy presence. Mujahideen are
physically present in Bala Marghab, Ghormach, Aab Kamrak, Sang-e-Atish,
Maqur, Qadis, Jund, Daraboom and all the other districts. The enemy
presence in most of the districts in only limited to their bases. If we
look census wise, there are 1050 armed Mujahideen in the fronts of Bala
Marghab at the moment, 500 in Ghormach and 419 in Daraboom. Similarly,
we have a number of other Mujahideen in the other districts according to
its needs while we can also count on the entire population of Badghis
to stand next to Mujahideen in times of need.
The
only place in Badghis lacking Jihadi operations is the provincial
capital, Qala Naw. The enemy also tried to arm local militia however due
to not receiving any backing from the people, this plan has miserably
faltered.
Al-Emara:
In the northern and north western provinces of Afghanistan, the enemy
often claims that they have decimated the fighting capability of
Mujahideen in last year’s operations and in the ‘Arbaki’ program. How
much of this claim is true in Badghis province?
Answer:
It is very true that the enemy carried out operations in Badghis just
like the other northern provinces and have activated the ‘Arbaki’
program but due to not receiving any popular support from the people,
these programs have come to naught.
Mujahideen
may have vacated some areas in the face of large scale air and ground
operations of the enemy but due to the nature of guerilla warfare, this
is called a tactical retreat however the Mujahideen again established
their presence in those same areas and forced the enemy out while
handing them heavy losses.
I
will forward the mountainous range of Nakhcharistan in Daraboom
district, which connects to several other districts as an example. The
enemy carried out a huge air and ground campaign in the area a while
back during which they built 6 check posts and entrenched in them nearly
200 troops and local police (Arbaki/militia). After some time when the
operation ended, nearly 300 Mujahideen participated in their own
offensive in which all 6 check posts were uprooted. Some enemy troops
were killed, some fled while others were airlifted by helicopters. This
area is now completely free from enemy presence. The enemy similarly
built check posts in other rural areas however they are now finding it
difficult to provide it with logistics while many are being abandoned as
their daily losses increase. Many people who had joined the enemy as
part of the ‘Arbaki’ program are now defecting to the Mujahideen with
their weapons. Besides the occasional personal surrender, many ‘Arbakis’
have surrendered with their entire groups. As an example, a group of 50
‘Arbakis’ surrendered themselves to the Mujahideen in the early days of
Jamadi ul Awal in Qadis district. Such incidents demonstrate that all
the enemy efforts have been wasted. They have nothing to show in the
military field and have only their radio propaganda to fall back on
through which they want to give confidence to their moral lacking
troops.
Al-Emara:
Respected Mawlawi Sahib, can you share with us a memorable or an
interesting story about Mujahideen activities in Badghis province?
Answer:
The Mujahideen in Badghis, just like the rest of Mujahideen in
Afghanistan, have presented extraordinary sacrifices in its few years
Jihad, performed heroic deeds and have carved out relics of courage and
valor however its is very bemoaning that such incidents of the
Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate have gone unnoticed and have not been
written down. I strongly believe that if the great deeds of Mujahideen
from all over Afghanistan were to be collected, it would fill a whole
chapter is Islamic history. The incident I want to recall is about the
bravery and Jihadi fervor of a 12 year old Afghan.
A
while back in Daraboom district of Badghis, Americans carried out an
operation in Kabulchi village. As they approached a mosque of Mawlawi
Pir Muhammad Sahib, who teaches a couple of young students, a 12 year
old talib with exceptional zeal and love for Jihad takes the opportunity
and waits in an ambush at the door with a sickle. When the Americans
enter, the boy attacks one and cuts a deep wound in his face before
being apprehended. Since this boy was of a young age, the local elders
interfere and got him released. There are many other evoking stories
however this one serves as a good example.
Al-Emara: As for the last question I want to ask a general question. On the 2nd
of May of the current year, the Kabul administration and the Americans
signed a strategic agreement regarding which many discussions are still
taking place. How do you view this subject from the point of view of a
Mujahid from Badghis province?
Answer: After the strategic pact was signed between Obama and Karzai on the 2nd of May, 3 days later on the 5th,
Americans carried out airstrikes on the tents of nomads in Mangam area
of Marghab district in which 14 innocent civilians including women and
children were martyred while 6 others were wounded. For me personally
and for the rest of Mujahideen of Badghis, this was regarded as the
first accomplishment of Karzai. After signing the agreement, Karzai
claimed that the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan is now legal.
This statement makes clear that the aforementioned person believes that
the remorseless murder of innocent civilians in Badghis as also legal.
I
think that this pact has no practical meaning because the Americans had
even before entered forcefully, they had complete control every matter
and Karzai was only their hireling stooge and matters will still remain
the same as long as the Americans are present on this soil. However the
only thing achieved by signing this pact was that the puppets in Kabul
exposed their true faces to the people of Afghanistan and showed their
lowliness to the extent that they are even willing to bargain on
Afghanistan under the disguise of strategic agreement.
I
believe that the Afghan people are a Mujahid, religious and freedom
loving nation. The Jihiadi sentiments are alive amongst them and they
have the potential of taking back their sovereignty from America. Karzai
can never be considered the representative of the proud Mujahid Afghan
people therefore the signing of this agreement was a deal between a
master and his slave which is not something worth deliberating for the
Afghans.