Bruce Pannier - The Taliban Threat to Northern Afghanistan
The security
problems in northwest Afghanistan continue despite several trips to the region
by Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former general who comes from
the region. Dostum has led at last four offensives against militants there
since the summer of 2015, but when he leaves the militants return.
The Taliban spring
offensive is well under way in northern Afghanistan. Barely three years ago,
northern Afghanistan was a relatively peaceful part of the country. It was a
welcome situation for the governments of the Central Asian states, who fear
Afghanistan’s problems could create instability among its neighbors. This year there is
fighting in all eight of the Afghan provinces that border Central Asia. It’s
been close to two decades since there was such widespread violence along
Central Asia’s southern border.
RFE/RL’s Turkmen
Service, known locally as Azatlyk, spoke with officials in Faryab Province, one
the Afghan provinces bordering Turkmenistan, to try to get a picture of the
situation there. Colonel Reza Rezai is
the spokesman for the Afghan National Army’s 209th Brigade, which is stationed
in northern Afghanistan. “As of June 1, there is heavy fighting in the Gormach
district, several militants were killed and security forces had casualties
also,” Rezai said. “The districts of Qaysar, Dowlatebad, and Khoja Sebiz Posh
came under attack and traffic on the Ankhoi-Maymana highway is suspended.”
The Gormach and
Dowlatebad districts border Turkmenistan. Ankhoi is where the planned
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway is supposed to enter Afghanistan
from Turkmenistan. Rezai said that “the
security post in Khoja Sebiz Posh has been overrun by militants,” as have two
villages in the district. “Eighteen villages in Qaysar district are currently
under the control of militants, and the Taliban also has an overwhelming
presence in the Pashtun Kot district.”
The chief of the
Faryab provincial council, Tahir Rahmani, echoed Rezai’s assessment. Rahmani
said there was “fierce fighting” going on in Pashtun Kot district and also that
militants were getting closer to the provincial capital, Maymana. Jawid Bedar, the
spokesman for the Faryab governor, said fighting was nearing Maymana and that
without reinforcements the city could fall. Bedar said the militants had
blocked the highway leading east from Maymana to Sheberghan, capital of Jowzjan
Province.
Local officials told
Azatlyk that most of the militants in Faryab are from Central Asia — Turkmen,
Uzbeks, and some Tajiks. These officials also said the militants had control of
some areas adjacent to the Turkmen border. The security problems
in northwest Afghanistan continue despite several trips to the region by Afghan
Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former general who comes from the region.
Dostum has led at last four offensives against militants in northwest
Afghanistan since the summer of 2015. His forces have chased the militants from
many regions, but when Dostum departs the militants return.
http://www.juancole.com/2016/06/taliban-northern-afghanistan.html