Bacha Khan Zadran
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Pacha Khan Zadran ( ps, پاچا خان ځدراڼ) is a militia leader and a politician in the southeast of Afghanistan. He was an ex anti-Soviet-fighter militia leader who played a role in driving the Taliban from Paktia Province in the 2001 invasion, with American backing, and he subsequently assumed the governorship of the province. In 2002, he engaged in a violent conflict with rival tribal leaders in the province over the Governorship of the province, shelling Gardez City and obstructing two separate appointed governors sent by Hamid Karzai.


Siege of Gardez and Khost

Angered that his assistance to American forces in Operation Anaconda had not been rewarded, Zadran's forces became a "renegade" force. After being replaced by
Taj Mohammad Wardak Taj Mohammad Wardak is an Afghan politician, from the Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day ...
as governor of Paktia Province, Zadran retaliated in late April 2002 by bombarding the city of Gardez, the provincial capital, killing 36 civilians. In September 2002, with Zadran claiming governorship of the neighboring Khost Province, his forces laid an unsuccessful siege to the city of Khost.


Son killed by Americans

On 24 March 2003, Carlotta Gall, writing in '' The New York Times'', reported that a Zadran spokesman claimed US
special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
killed Pacha Khan's eldest son, and nine of his men.


Arrested in Pakistan

Zadran was arrested by Pakistani security forces in November 2003. On February 3, 2004 he and his brother Amanullah were brought to the border of Afghanistan and handed over to Afghan troops. They were then driven to Jalalabad Airport, and a helicopter took them to Kabul. BBC News
Pakistan hands over Afghan rebel
February 5, 2004


Elected to Afghanistan's legislature

In 2005, he was elected to the Afghanistan's legislature, the Wolesi Jirga. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies:


Guantanamo connection

Four Guantanamo detainees Khan Zaman, his son
Gul Zaman According to the United States US Department of Defense, Department of Defense, it held more than two hundred Afghan detainees in Guantanamo prior to May 15, 2006. They had been captured and classified as enemy combatants in warfare following th ...
, his brother
Abib Sarajuddin Abib Sarajuddin is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 458. Guantanamo intelligence analysts estimate that ...
, and his neighbor Mohammad Gul, were all captured on the night of January 21, 2002, early during the administration of Hamid Karzai. Sarajuddin had been anonymously denounced to American intelligence officials, who believed a claim that Sarajuddin had been the overnight host to a senior Taliban official, Jalaluddin Haqqani, as he fled the Northern Alliance. American military intelligence had authorized a retaliatory attack on Sarajuddin, destroying his house, and killing his wife and half a dozen family members. The other three men were captured because they owned passports, or were related to Sarajuddin. Sarajuddin's connection to Pacha Khan was that tribal elders had directed him to recruit fighters from his village, and four neighboring villages, to fight under Zadran, when the USA appealed to local leaders to overthrow the Taliban. The four men's capture occurred when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a firm US ally. But, two and a half years later, when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a renegade, Sarajuddin's efforts to raise troops to serve under Pacha Khan Zadran, to overthrow the Taliban, was offered as a justification for classifying the four men as enemy combatants.


Reports of banditry

Human Rights Watch, in a 2003 report entitled: ''"Killing you is a very easy thing for us"'', quoted truck drivers who reported being robbed at roadblocks set up by Pacha Khan Zadran's men: Tribal forces captured Pacha Khan Zadran in Pakistan's Tribal Areas on December 1, 2003. He was handed over to Afghanistan's officials at the Pakistan/Afghanistan border on February 3, 2004 in Nangarhar. Officials said the capture occurred with their cooperation because his forces had been setting up roadblocks on the roads in Paktia, and robbing travelers. '' The Seattle Times'' reports that American Special Forces referred to Pacha Khan Zadran as "PKZ". They report that in 2002 and 2003 the American
Green Berets The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...
regarded PKZ as their main nemesis because they had been caught in the crossfire between Zadran and his local rivals. '' The Seattle Times'' also reports that American Special Forces believed Pacha Khan was extorting payments from drivers on the Khost-
Gardez , settlement_type =City , image_skyline =gardez_paktya.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption =The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_sea ...
highway.Gung-ho rogue troops add torture to their arsenal
'' The Seattle Times'', September 26, 2006


September 2007 meeting with Dan McNeil, NATO commander

NATO commander American General
Dan McNeill Dan Kelly McNeill (born July 23, 1946) is a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He served as Commander, Coalition Forces, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003 and as Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) from 2004 to ...
inadvertently triggered hostilities when he met with Zadran in early September 2007. McNeill's intent was to get Zadran's men to stop setting up roadblocks. Their unauthorized roadblocks were interfering with the activities of US troops. But Zadran's rivals thought McNeill had come to personally arrest Zadran, and chose that moment to launch an impromptu sneak attack. Over fifty people were reported to have been killed.


Assassination attempts

Pacha Khan Zadran has been reported to have been the subject of several
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
attempts.


Namesakes

On January 16, 2010, the Department of Defense was forced to publish the names of the 645 captives held in the
Bagram Theater Internment Facility The Parwan Detention Facility (also called Detention Facility in Parwan or Bagram prison) is Afghanistan's main military prison. Situated next to the Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, the prison was built by the U.S. during t ...
. One of the individuals on the list was named ''"Pacha Khan"''.


See also

* Ziauddin (Afghan militia leader) *
Abdullah Mujahid Abdullah Mujahid (born 1971) is a citizen of Afghanistan who is still held in extrajudicial detention after being transferred from United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba — to an Afghan prison. His Guantanamo Internment Ser ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zadran, Pacha Khan Pashtun people Governors of Paktia Province Afghan warlords Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Afghan expatriates in Pakistan