Key Tribal Leader On Verge Of Deserting Taliban
Mullah Abdul Salaam of the Alizai tribe.
An Afghan tribal leader is in talks to defect from the Taliban and take thousands of armed tribesmen with him to fight alongside British forces in southern Afghanistan.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that the Afghan government hopes to seal the deal this week with Mullah Abdul Salaam and his Alizai tribe, which has been fighting alongside the Taliban in Helmand province.
Diplomats confirmed yesterday that Mullah Salaam was expected to change sides within days. He is a former Taliban corps commander and governor of Herat province under the government that fell in 2001.
Military sources said British forces in the province are “observing with interest” the potential deal in north Helmand, which echoes the efforts of US commanders in Iraq’s western province to split Sunni tribal leaders from their al-Qa’eda allies.
The Afghan deal would see members of the Alizai tribe around the Taliban-held town of Musa Qala quit the insurgency and pledge support to the Afghan government. It would be the first time that the Kabul government and its Western allies have been able exploit tribal divisions that exist within the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Nato forces in Helmand have been monitoring mounting tensions within the Taliban around the towns of Musa Qala and Kajaki.
“We have been aware in the last week that guns have been pulled and different armed camps formed within the Taliban in that area,” said a military source.
According to tribal elders in Helmand and Western diplomats in Kabul, Mullah Salaam had been attempting to negotiate with the Afghan government in secret.
But details of the talks were leaked late last week to his erstwhile allies and this reportedly led to a split in the Taliban ranks.
Other Taliban leaders have since plotted to assassinate Mullah Salaam. “Mullah Abdul Salaam is very influential and he has the support of thousands of our tribe,” said Haji Saleem Khan, the head of the Shura (or tribal council) of the Alizai in Helmand.
“When the Taliban found out that he planned to join the government three days ago they tried to kill him. But they have failed.
Full Telegraph article by Tom Coghlan here.
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This is great news to my ears. Maybe next time I get to speak to my husband he can tell me they are fighting WITH him not Behind or in front of him!! Thanks for finding and sharing this. May God Bless you and yours, Ang
October 29th, 2007 at 10:30 pmSerious splits have formed between the foreign fighters and the majority of tribal Taliban operating throughout the district.
The largest Pashtun tribe in Helmand, the Alizai (23.5%), are in secret talks with the government regarding a possible defection from the Taliban insurgency.
The tribe’s leader, Mullah Abdul Salaam, is a powerful Soviet-jihad mujahidin commander and former Taliban Corps commander
Another blow to the ego of bin hiden
October 29th, 2007 at 10:43 pm