Dadullah

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For other uses, see Mullah Dadullah Front and Dadullah (Pakistani Taliban).
Dadullah Akhund
دادالله آخوند
War in Afghanistan

Dadullah (1966 – May 11, 2007) was the

Timur Lang), because of a leg he lost during fighting.[4]

An ethnic

Pashtun from the Kakar tribe of Kandahar Province, he was known as "The Butcher", even among fellow Taliban members, for his brutality and outbursts of violence, notably in cutting men's heads off, as per some, even being stripped of his command at least twice by Mullah Omar due to his extreme behavior.[5]

According to the United Nations' list of entities belonging to or associated with the Al-Qaeda organization, he had been the Taliban's Minister of Construction.[6] He was killed by British and German special forces.

Early life

Dadullah belonged to the

prosthetic limb from a hospital in Karachi.[10]

He was a member of the Taliban's 10-man leadership council before the

US-led invasion in 2001. He was reportedly a close aide to Mohammed Omar
, the leader of the Taliban.

During the

Kunduz province.[9]

Fight post 2001

Following rumors that Dadullah may be headed to recapture the city with as many as 8,000 Taliban fighters, after the November 2001

Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif, a thousand American ground forces were airlifted into the city.[14]

He allegedly participated (by giving orders via cell phone) in the murder of Ricardo Munguía on March 27, 2003. In 2005 he was sentenced in absentia to life in prison, along with three others, by

Balochistan in November, 2004.[15]

Dadullah masterminded the

Orūzgān.[19]

Dadullah had reportedly been a central figure in the recruitment of Pakistani nationals to the Taliban

South Waziristan to convince local Pashtun insurgents to agree to a truce with Pakistan.[21] In October 2006 it was rumored[22]
that the Afghan government was considering giving control of its defense ministry over to Dadullah as part of a reconciliation plan with the Taliban to stop the ongoing insurgency.

Dadullah was linked to massacres of Shi'a, the scorched earth policy of Shi'a villages in 2001 (which he boasted about once on the radio), and the summary execution of men suspected of throwing hand grenades into his compound in 2001 (they were hanged at one of the main roundabouts). According to an interview he gave to the BBC, he had hundreds of suicide bombers waiting for his orders to launch an offensive against NATO troops.[3]

Dadullah oversaw Taliban negotiations for the hostage-taking of Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his two Afghan assistants in March 2007. Mastrogiacomo's driver was later beheaded. Mastrogiacomo was reportedly exchanged for five senior Taliban leaders, including Ustad Yasir, Abdul Latif Hakimi, Mansoor Ahmad, a brother of Dadullah, and two commanders identified as Hamdullah and Abdul Ghaffar. The Taliban threatened to kill the interpreter Ajmal Naqshbandi, one of Mastrogiacomo's two Afghan assistants, on March 29, 2007, unless the Kabul government freed two Taliban prisoners.[23] Ajmal was later beheaded after the Afghan government refused to free any more Taliban prisoners. According to Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar Province, "Mullah Dadullah was the backbone of the Taliban. He was a brutal and cruel commander who killed and beheaded Afghan civilians."[24]

Death

Afghan officials reported on May 13, 2007 that Dadullah was killed the previous evening in Helmand Province in a raid by joint Afghan and NATO forces known to have included C Squadron, Special Boat Service (SBS), a British special forces unit, after he left his "sanctuary" for a meeting with fellow commanders, in southern Afghanistan.[18] Some reports indicate Dadullah was killed in the Gershk district, while others claim he was killed near the Sangin and Nari Saraj district.[25] Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province, put the body of Dadullah on display at his official residence. The body appeared to have three bullet wounds, two in the torso and one in the back of the head. The Taliban named Mansoor Dadullah (Mullah Bakht), Dadullah's younger brother, as his replacement.[26]

On June 7, 2007, the Taliban said that Dadullah's body had been returned to them, in exchange for four Afghan health ministry workers who had been held hostage, and had been buried by his family in Kandahar. The Taliban said that a fifth hostage had been beheaded because Dadullah's body was not returned quickly enough.[27][28]

Post-death

Dadullah's death severely weakened the Taliban's fighting capabilities, as he had been their most prominent commander up to that point. Following his death, many Taliban leaders retreated to Pakistan, and seven of his senior commanders abandoned the insurgency entirely. However, some leaders formed the new Mullah Dadullah Front in response to his killing.[29] This group became notorious for assassinating Afghan officials and launching suicide attacks against Afghan police posts. Over time, the Dadullah Front came to be known as one of the most extremist factions within the Taliban.[30]

Because of his brutal reputation, Dadullah remained a popular, if controversial, figure amongst the Taliban ranks after his death. One Taliban commander later recalled in a 2014 interview:

When he was alive, half of Helmand was in our hands, as well as many districts of Kandahar province. He was a very cruel person; all the people were afraid of him. No one would ever dare to wrong him. He would tell people that either they captured an area or they were not to return to him.[31]

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mullah Dadullah.

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^
    ISBN 9781598845457
    .
  2. ^ Qazizai, Fazelminallah; Sands, Chris (August 2022). "Faith and Vengeance: the Islamic State's War in Afghanistan". newlinesmag.com. New Lines Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Afghan Taleban commander killed, BBC News, May 13, 2007
  4. ^ Malkasian, Carter (2021). The American War in Afghanistan: A History. Oxford University Press. pp. 116–117.
  5. ^ Coghlan, Tom (2012). "The Taliban in Helmand: An Oral History". In Giustozzi, Antonio (ed.). Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field. Hurst Publishers. p. 138.
  6. John R. Bolton (2003). "Denied Persons Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution". United States Federal Registry
    . Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  7. ^ Silinsky, Mark (2014). The Taliban: Afghanistan's Most Lethal Insurgents. ABC-Clio. p. 121.
  8. ^ Deobandi Islam: The Religion of the Taliban U. S. Navy Chaplain Corps, 15 October 2001
  9. ^ a b The Taleban's most feared commander, BBC News, May 19, 2006
  10. ^ Yousafzai, Sami (7 February 2006). "In the Footsteps of Zarqawi". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2013-11-23.
  11. ISBN 978-0-19-755077-9
    .
  12. ^ a b The Specter of Mullah Dadullah Archived 2006-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, afgha.com June 13, 2006
  13. ISBN 978-0-333-80291-5
    .
  14. ^ Khan, M. Ismail. Dawn, Mazar falls to Alliance: Taliban says they're regrouping, November 10, 2001
  15. ^ Fugitive Taleban leader sentenced, BBC News, December 29, 2005
  16. ISBN 978-0-19-755077-9
    .
  17. ^ Across the border from Britain's troops, Taliban rises again, The Guardian, May 27, 2006
  18. ^ a b Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah killed, Channel 4, May 13, 2007
  19. ^ Afghanistan: Taleban's second coming, BBC News, June 2, 2006
  20. ^ Captured Taliban leader appears on Al-Jazeera[permanent dead link], The Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2006
  21. ^ Omar role in truce reinforces fears that Pakistan 'caved in' to Taliban, The Daily Telegraph, September 24, 2006
  22. ^ Taliban Rising, The Nation, October 12, 2006
  23. ^ Taliban leader threatens to kill Afghan hostage, Reuters, March 29, 2007
  24. ^ Top Taliban commander killed in Afghanistan, The Daily Telegraph, May 13, 2007
  25. ^ "Mullah Dadullah, Taliban top commander, killed in Helmand". Long War Journal. 13 May 2007.
  26. ^ Taliban Names Replacement After Death of Top Commander, CBC News, May 14, 2007
  27. ^ "Taleban handed commander's body", BBC News, June 7, 2007.
  28. ^ The Blotter: Afghan Trade: Four Hostages for Body of Dead Taliban
  29. ISBN 978-0-19-766164-2
    .
  30. ^ Nordland, Rod (19 May 2012). "In Afghanistan, New Group Begins Campaign of Terror". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  31. ISBN 978-0-19-766164-2
    .
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