Afghanistan to release 65 'dangerous' Taliban prisoners

Kabul (AFP)
Feb 11, 2014

Afghanistan on Tuesday said it would press ahead with the release of scores of alleged Taliban fighters from jail despite US objections that the men were a threat to NATO and Afghan forces.

Kabul announced on January 9 that a total of 72 detainees held at Bagram jail near the capital would be freed due to lack of evidence, sparking strong condemnation from the United States.

Afghan authorities "concluded that the there is no evidence against 72 out of 88 prisoners. We reviewed their cases again after objections by the US forces, and for now we will release 65 prisoners," Abdul Shukur Dadras from the Afghan government body reviewing detainees at Bagram said on Tuesday.

"These 65 inmates... will be released as soon as early next week," he told AFP.

The issue threatens to further strain US-Afghan relations amid pressure for the two countries to sign a long-delayed security deal allowing some American soldiers to stay in the country after 2014.

In a statement, US forces in Afghanistan said the prisoners were a "legitimate force protection concern" for both Afghan and international forces fighting a bloody Taliban-led insurgency since late 2001.

"The release of these detainees is a major step backward for the rule of law in Afghanistan," the statement said.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said American troops would be ready to kill or capture the freed detainees if they posed a danger.

"It is the US position that these are threats to US forces and should they take up arms against us, we would take immediate action," Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

Asked to elaborate, Warren said that "of course, we would try to kill and capture them as the battlefield situation presents."

Bagram was the main detention center housing Taliban and other insurgents captured by the Western military forces until it was transferred to Afghan control last year.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Afghanistan_to_release_65_dangerous_Taliban_prisoners_999.html.

Pakistan Taliban prison raid frees hundreds

30 Jul 2013

About 250 inmates escape in attack that also left 12 dead and eight injured in northwest city of Dera Ismail Khan.

Taliban fighters armed with mortars and grenades have attacked a prison in northwest Pakistan, escaping with about 250 prisoners after a gunfight with security forces, officials have said.

At least 12 people, including six police. were killed and eight others wounded in the assault, staged by fighters disguised in police uniforms, officials said.

The attack in the town of Dera Ismail Khan began late on Monday with a huge explosion, intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The fighters then detonated a series of smaller bombs to destroy the prison's boundary wall.

Security forces engaged the attackers, who were chanting "God is great" and "Long live the Taliban".

"Police and other law enforcing agencies are busy in clearing the jail," a senior government official Mushtaq Jadoon said, adding authorities have imposed a curfew in the city and asked residents to stay at home.

Pakistan's military confirmed that it had deployed forces to respond to the raid.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the capital, Islamabad, said: "I would describe it [the attack] as extremely calculated."

Some of the Taliban fighters were using loudspeakers and calling the individual names of inmates to come out of the badly damaged prison, he said.

Officials have said that 40 to 45 so-called high-profile or high-value prisoners were freed, our correspondent added.

Taliban claim responsibility

Provincial prisons chief Khalid Abbas said the attackers escaped after a three-hour long gunfight with security forces.

"Security forces have entered the prison and cleared the building after which we have started counting prisoners with flashlights as there is no power in the prison and it is making our job difficult," Abbas told AFP news agency.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a spokesperson. The group said that "over 100 fighters" had attacked the prison.

The Taliban have been waging a deadly uprising against the government for years that has killed thousands of security personnel and civilians.

Dera Ismail Khan, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is located on the edge of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

The jail, which housed about 5,000 prisoners, is near the bordering town of Tank and adjacent to volatile South Waziristan Agency, the main area of influence of the outlawed TTP.

In April 2012, Taliban fighters armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in northwest Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" fighters.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/07/2013729201057462974.html.

Pakistani Taliban, army exchange prisoners

September 11, 2013

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban and the army exchanged prisoners Wednesday as a confidence building measure ahead of possible peace talks, intelligence officials and a militant commander said.

The exchange included six militants and two paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, officials and the commander said. It occurred in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan tribal region. The militants were subsequently taken to neighboring North Waziristan, the country's main Taliban sanctuary.

Militants fired in the air with joy when their colleagues were freed, the intelligence officials said. The officials and the Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists

The release occurred only days after Pakistan's main political parties endorsed peace negotiations with the Taliban and their allies Monday as the best way to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

The exchange was meant to build confidence between the government and the militants before formal peace talks, the Taliban commander said. Senior Taliban leaders are currently discussing whether to take the government up on its offer to hold negotiations, said the commander and one of his colleagues.

The Taliban said they were open to talks at the end of last year but withdrew that offer in May after the group's deputy leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif campaigned on a platform of holding peace talks and has maintained that line since he took office in June. He scored a victory when his stance was endorsed by other parties on Monday — a decision that was generally welcomed by the Taliban.

But there are plenty of skeptics who doubt negotiations actually will bring lasting peace. The government has struck various peace deals with the Taliban in the past, but all have fallen apart. Critics say the agreements simply gave the militants time to regroup and continue their fight against the state.

"Not only is the path well worn, it is also a path that has on every previous occasion been attempted and led to failure, mutual recrimination and renewed bloodshed," an editorial published Wednesday in The Express Tribune newspaper said.

The editorial also pointed out that it's unclear with whom exactly the government would negotiate. Analysts say there are more than 100 militant groups operating in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border with varying levels of allegiance.

"Then there is the question of just what is on the table, what is up for negotiation," the editorial said. "No iteration of the Taliban either historically or in recent years has wanted anything other than the dismantling of the democratic process, the dissolution of legislatures at the federal and provincial levels, and the imposition of their own narrow interpretation of religion."

It's also unclear what kind of negotiated peace Pakistan's army, considered the country's most powerful institution, would accept after losing hundreds of its soldiers in combat with the Taliban. A peace deal could worry the United States if it gives more breathing room to Afghan militants in Pakistan who carry out cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

The Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are allies but have aimed their guns at different targets. The Afghan Taliban have fought coalition forces in Afghanistan, while the Pakistani Taliban have taken on the government at home.

Pakistan to free former Taliban second in command

Reuters
Tuesday, Sep 10, 2013

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will release former Afghan Taliban second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as soon as this month to help advance peace efforts in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan's foreign policy chief said on Tuesday.

Pakistan is under growing pressure to free senior Taliban figures, particularly Baradar, to boost reconciliation efforts, as most NATO combat troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and anxiety grows over the country's security.

"In principle, we have agreed to release him. The timing is being discussed. It should be very soon ... I think within this month," Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, told Reuters.

Baradar's fate is at the heart of Afghanistan's efforts to kick start the stalled peace process and push Pakistan to hand over important Taliban captives who could provide leverage in the negotiations.

Aziz said, however, that Baradar would not be handed over to Afghanistan directly as some in Kabul had hoped, and would instead be released straight into Pakistan.

The Afghan government believes Baradar is more open to dialogue than many of his comrades, but it is not clear whether he would promote peace or war against President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government after his release.

One of the most ruthless Taliban figures, he was given his nom de guerre of "Baradar", or "brother", by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Aziz said it was important to make sure the released Taliban prisoners had a chance to establish contact with their leadership on the ground to persuade them to be part of peace talks - an idea he said Karzai has agreed to.

"Obviously Karzai wanted him to go to Afghanistan, but we feel that if they are to play a positive role in the reconciliation process then they must do it according to what their own Shura (Council), their own leadership, wants them to do," he said.

"That they can't do unless they are released. ... I think he (Karzai) accepted this point that they should play a constructive role in the peace process."

Aziz's remarks followed last month's trip by Karzai to Pakistan, where he sought the handover of some Afghan insurgents as part of the stalled peace process.

On Saturday, Pakistan freed a group of Taliban in an attempt to improve its troubled relations with Afghanistan, but once again risked angering Kabul by not handing them over directly.

Afghanistan fears that Pakistan is only pretending to support dialogue while its intelligence agencies harbor Taliban leaders to project influence across their shared frontier.

It is also concerned the released Taliban would simply go back to the tribal areas and rejoin the insurgency.

REVIVING PEACE TALKS

Aziz said that was not going to happen, adding that allowing them to establish contacts with their leaders would give more credibility to attempts to revive peace talks.

"We monitor their movements and watch where they go," he said. "We have to allow these released detainees to establish contact with their Shura and then decide where to go."

Pakistan is key to the fate of US and Afghan efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan, a challenge gaining urgency as the end of the US combat mission in 2014 draws closer.

But its long-running refusal to hand over Baradar to Afghanistan has been one of the biggest obstacles to peace talks, as mutual suspicions continue to hamper efforts to tackle militancy in one of the world's most explosive regions.

Source: AsiaOne.
Link: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/pakistan-free-former-taliban-second-command.

Pakistan releases seven Afghan Taliban detainees

Islamabad, Sep 7 2013: Pakistan has freed seven more Afghan Taliban detainees "to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process", the country's foreign ministry said Saturday.

A total of 32 Taliban rebels have been freed, reports Xinhua.

Pakistan had started the process to release Afghan Taliban prisoners on the request of the Afghan government in November last year.

"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistan is releasing seven Taliban detainees," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

These releases are in addition to 26 Taliban detainees released last year, it said.

The freed Taliban figures include commander Mansoor Dadullah, the brother of Mulla Dadullah Akhud, the Taliban senior commander who was killed by American and British troops in southern Afghanistan in May 2007.

Mansoor Dadullah was arrested by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan in February 2008.

The foreign ministry's list of those released excluded Taliban second-in-command Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was arrested in Karachi in 2010.

Though the Afghan government has been demanding Baradar's release since his arrest, Islamabad is unwilling to free him.

--IANS (Posted on 07-09-2013)

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/story/64046/.html.

Afghan politician defects to Taliban

September 20, 2013

A former Afghan senator and district governor has defected to the Taliban in the northern province of Sar-e-Pol, officials have told the BBC.

Qazi Abdul Hai served as a senator between 2004 and 2008 and was later made a district governor in Sar-e-Pol.

Correspondents say he is thought to be the highest-ranking civilian official to have joined the Taliban.

The move comes as foreign combat forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014 and ahead of elections next year.

Hai is believed to have defected to the Taliban along with two of his bodyguards on Tuesday.

As a tribal elder and former senator and official, Qazi Abdul Hai has some influence locally. But he doesn’t have a big following and it is unlikely that it would dramatically increase Taliban strength in the area. Nevertheless, this defection is symbolically significant.

Low-level defections to the Taliban, mostly by Afghan policemen, have happened in several parts of the country. But this is the first time a former official and politician of this status has defected.

But there is also a significant propaganda element for the Taliban. They have been promoting this as a success of their integration program and say that he switched sides after “realizing the reality” and “seeing the truth”.

Source: The Punch.
Link: http://www.punchng.com/news/world/afghan-politician-defects-to-taliban/.

Afghan Taliban vow attacks over Ramadan after being hacked

KABUL | Fri Jul 5, 2013

(Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban promised on Friday to continue attacks over Ramadan, rejecting as a fake an insurgent email promising a halt in violence over the coming Muslim holy month and saying it was the work of government intelligence.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the message sent in his name promising a temporary cessation of violence with next week's start of Ramadan was the latest incident in a simmering cyber war between intelligence agencies and the insurgents.

"In that mail the enemy losers have tried to influence attacks by mujahideen fighters," Mujahid said. "We strongly reject sending any such email on a stoppage of operations."

Afghan spy agency the National Directorate of Security has increasingly targeted the Taliban's sophisticated messaging network, which includes websites and email accounts, social media and spokesmen using noms de guerre.

The Taliban use Afghanistan's improving phone network to distribute anti-government messages and use Twitter to claim largely improbable successes as most foreign combat troops look to leave the country by 2014.

The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, are seeking to overthrow the U.S.-backed government and end foreign occupation.

While Ramadan is usually a relatively quiet month for insurgent attacks marked mainly by the use of roadside bombs rather than direct assaults by armed fighters, Zabihullah said the month also carried extra religious significance for insurgents.

"During the holy month of Ramadan, jihad has major rewards. And mujahideen will continue to employ all their fighting techniques to mount attacks on the enemy," he said.

Taliban fighters in 2011 used car bombs to attack a British government cultural center in the Afghan capital over the Ramadan period, killing almost a dozen people.

This year the militants have stepped up attacks ahead of the Afghan summer months. Insurgents including a suicide bomber attacked a foreign logistics and supply company last week in Kabul, the latest in a string of daring assaults in the capital.

Kabul's police chief General Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said on Friday that security forces had arrested three people in a night raid and seized five suicide bomb vests.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/05/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSBRE9640DT20130705.