A18 The World
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010
U.S. successes against Taliban fail to dismantle insurgency
afghanistan from A1
faltered — reforming the govern- ment, winning hearts and minds —Gen. David H. Petraeus and his new troops have so far succeeded at killing theirenemies.American officials have heldupthe example of the onslaught against the Tali- ban leadership as a clear sign of progress, a development sure to factor intoPresident Obama’s De- cemberreviewof theAfghancam- paign. “We’re trying basically to
squeeze the life out of the enemy,’’ Petraeus said in an interview Fri- day. The increased military pres-
sure in recent months has un- doubtedly made life more diffi- cult for Taliban leaders. Petraeus said the number of U.S. Special Operations troops doing targeted raids has continued to increase in recent months, even after a build- up under his predecessor, Gen. Stanley A.McChrystal. Among those insurgents killed
in the past month are al-Qaeda’s No. 3 commander in Afghanistan and 15 shadow governors. Petra- eussaid mid-levelcommanders— “the senior leaders aren’t in the country, they lead by cellphone” — have expressed frustration at being sacrificed while their boss- es live safely across the border. “This is quite relentless pres-
sure. It forces them on the run,” Petraeus said. “But again, if you don’t take away the safe haven, it doesn’t have a lasting effect.” The aggressive killing cam-
paign has unfolded despite recent discussions between insurgents and the Afghan government, whichNATOhas helped facilitate by providing safe passage to Ka- bul for some senior Taliban fig- ures. These early steps toward negotiations do not seem to have slowed the U.S. military’s target- ing of the Taliban, as both sides vie fortheupperhandintheevent that realnegotiationscommence.
Scattered, for now Badghis is a sparsely patrolled
outpost far from southern Af- ghanistan’s dense concentration of insurgents and NATO troops. For the past fewyears, theTaliban
here have operated from a strong- hold in the northern Bala Murghab district, assembling a robust force that former fighters say was well-funded from Paki- stan. They controlled the territo- ry so completely that Afghan sol- diers and police sometimes re- fused to patrol or set foot beyond the district center, according to Afghan officials. Tribes of Pashtuns, Tajiks and
Uzbeks recruited Taliban fighters to battle foreign and Afghan troops, and one another. Until recently, with the bulk of NATO and Afghan troops elsewhere, the growing threat in Badghis was largely ignored.
“We’re trying basically to squeeze the life out of the enemy.” —Army Gen. David H. Petraeus
“The government didn’t want
to kill them before, they always wantedthemto be reconciledand join the peace process,” said Mo- hammad Jabar, Badghis’s acting police chief. “Since a month ago, the government has rolled up their sleeves and they have decid- ed to get rid of them.” Although the number of Af-
ghan soldiers has increased in Badghis, many here cite U.S. Spe- cial Operations raids as the most effective weapon against the Tali- ban. Mullah Ismail had seized the
reins as Taliban leader in the province after U.S. troops killed his predecessor inFebruary 2009. As governor, he received about $60,000 a month from Moham- mad Omar’s Taliban leadership council in Pakistan, the Afghan intelligence official said, a sum augmented by payments extract- ed from residents in the name of Islamic charity. Earlier this sum- mer, a Taliban court run by his subordinates carried out the whipping and execution of a 41- year-old widow who had been
convicted of fornication. The nighttime airstrike by U.S.
Special Operations forces that killed Mullah Ismail and five as- sociates on Oct. 6 temporarily left Taliban forces in the province leaderless. After his killing, and the deaths of other commanders, many insurgents — including Manan Dewana, regarded as the most powerful remaining com- mander — fled toward the Turk- menistan border. “The American operations are
very effective: the night raids, the airstrikes and ground attacks,” said Eidi Mohammad, a Taliban commander in Badghis who re- cently surrendered to the govern- ment. “I was afraid they would come and kill me, too.” But the Taliban also struck
backin retribution. Inresponseto Mullah Ismail’s death, the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s roughly 20- person inner circle based in Paki- stan, issued an order reiterating a demand to capture and kill any- one associated with the govern- ment, the Afghan intelligence of- ficial said. In one such case, two Afghan policemen, on leave and in civil- ian clothes, were stopped by in- surgents while driving from Bala Murghab to the provincial capi- tal,Qal-e-Now.Whentheir identi- fication was discovered, the Tali- ban chopped off their hands and arms, beheaded them and threw their body parts in plastic bags. Afghan officials said insur-
gents in Badghis have scattered into the mountains, melted back into the villages, and fear travel- ing in large groups. Coalition forces have pushed Taliban lines back from the district centers, including Bala Murghab, said Lt. Col.DavidBottcher, theAmerican commander in western Afghani- stan. “The enemy is in a state of
disarray; I think they’re trying to figure out who’s in charge,” he said inBadghisbeforeattendinga memorialservice for threeAmeri- can soldiers killed by a bomb blast.
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