Abdul Ghafour (Taliban Commander)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mullah Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...
Abdul Ghafour was a
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
commander that
ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
forces claim was killed by an airstrike on February 4, 2007.


Summary executions in January 2001

The Afghan Justice Project described the execution of hundreds of civilians when the Taliban reoccupied Yakaolong: :''"The massacre of non-combatants in Yakaolang began on Sunday, January 7, 2001. . Most killings were conducted on January 8. Taliban forces remained in the area until January 22, and carried out more
summary execution In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
s that day. The total number killed during this period is at least 178 who have been provisionally identified, of whom 175 were civilians and 3 were military hors de combat. It has not been possible to obtain a more precise figure because of the difficulty in getting reliable, comprehensive lists of people killed in the mass arrests and firing squads."'' The Afghan Justice Project identified Mullah Shahzad, Mullah Abdul Sattar, and Mullah Abdul Ghaffar as the three most senior Taliban responsible for the alleged massacre. It reported: :''"Mullah Abdul Ghaffar was another Qandahari Pushtun Talib, not known in the area, who acted as a field commander during the operation. He had responsibility for the upper Darra Ali area and supervised the search operations there during January 8. During the operation, Taliban in Kabul informed the researcher the Ahmadullah had a coordinating role, for the simultaneous operations in Saighan, Kamard and Yakaolang. Already from January 7, the units in Yakaolang were expecting his arrival. Although he may not have physically gone to Yakaolang until the Tuesday or the Wednesday, when the main killing was over, he clearly had senior level responsibility in the command structure from the inception of the operation."''


Occupation of Musa Qala, February 2007

A unit of several hundred Taliban soldiers occupied
Musa Qala Musa Qala (; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the distr ...
on February 2, 2007. ''
Eurasianet Eurasianet is a news organisation based at Columbia University's Harriman Institute, the United States, that provides news, information and analysis on countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus region, Russia and Southwest Asia. Launched in 2000, ...
'' reports: ''"The attack laid waste to an agreement there, brokered last fall by Richards and local tribal elders, under which NATO troops agreed to withdraw from the town in return for a commitment by local Afghan leaders to oppose the Taliban."''
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
David J. Richards Field Marshal David Julian Richards, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, (born 4 March 1952) is a retired senior British Army officer and Peer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He ...
, an expert at negotiation, is the outgoing
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
commander. Eurasianet reports that the new NATO commander,
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
General Dan McNeill, opposes the kind of local agreements that Richards favored, and speculated that the aerial bombardment that was reported to have killed Mullah Abdul Ghafour was a sign of McNeill's more aggressive, less conciliatory approach. :''"Officials in several European countries have quietly expressed concern about placing an American general in charge of the NATO force. Richards tried to create a less harsh, more economic-development-oriented identity for NATO in Afghanistan, as compared to the ''kicking-down-doors'' image that US forces have. Many local analysts expect NATO forces to embrace a more aggressive stance under McNeill, who is believed to oppose the type of local peace arrangements that Richards promoted. The danger at this point is that an overly aggressive NATO force in Afghanistan could alienate Afghans, and thus cause the Taliban's support base to grow."''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghafour, Abdul Year of birth missing 2007 deaths Taliban leaders Pashtun people