Mullah Borjan
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Mullah Borjan (
Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
/; 1958 – 27 September 1996), also known as Mullah Aminullah, was an Afghan
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) ...
militant commander. He was considered to be an influential militant leader in Kandahar Province.


Early life and education

Born in Talkan in 1958, Borjan hailed from a family with a religious background. His father was Haji Mullah Muhammad Sadiq, while his grandfather was Mullah Muhammad Musa Jan. Borjan finished his primary and secondary education in local schools and mosques.


Military career


Soviet-Afghan War

At the age of 25, Borjan dropped out of school and joined the mujahideen group led by Mullah Haji Muhammad Akhund in Panjwayi. The group was affiliated with Mohammad Yunus Khalis. He waged guerilla wars against the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...
forces both daytime and night. Furthermore, he planned and commanded Mujahideen's attack on the Soviet military center in
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
, which caused casualties to Soviet soldiers. In 1987, Borjan participated in the Battle of Arghandab against the Soviet forces led by
Boris Gromov Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov (; born 7 November 1943) is a Russian politician and former military officer. He was the Governor of Moscow Oblast between January 2000 and May 2012. Deployed thrice to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War, Gromov was t ...
in which he managed to lift the 33-day siege of
Mullah Naqib Mullah Naqib Alikozai, sometimes called Naqibullah ( 1950 – 11 October 2007), was an Afghan mujahideen commander and politician from the Kandahar area of southern Afghanistan. He was the leader of the Alikozai Pashtun tribe. Mujahideen com ...
forces base. Although he managed to break the siege, he got injured due to a landmine explosion. Other than that, he also got injured during the battle against Soviet forces in Mohallajat area in 1987.


Taliban

Borjan joined the Taliban in 1994. At first, he was assigned as Kandahar police chief and later became the group's commander-in-chief. He is considered to be Mullah Omar's closest friend. He commanded Taliban troops during Battle of Kabul and the fall of
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
on 11 September 1996. While leading the battle in the Kabul region, he got wounded on a skirmish in Char Asiab on 14 February 1995, causing him to be transported to Kandahar for medical treatment. Furthermore, he also freed the Pakistan convoy heading to Kandahar from Amir Lalai's militia hostage in 1994 and gave safe passage to
Abdul Ali Mazari Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari (; 26 May 194613 March 1995) was an Afghan Hazara politician and leader of the Hezbe Wahdat during and following the Soviet–Afghan War, who advocated for a federal system of governance in Afghanistan. Mazari envisioned ...
and his forces to flee
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
. In 1995, Borjan headed the talk with UN Special Envoy, Mahmoud Mestiri, which demanded the Taliban to become the group who took control Kabul before the transfer of power. As a group commander, he preferred to conduct military operations before night to prevent collateral damage and called for war continuation until the central government collapsed.


Death

He died on 27 September 1996. There are three versions of Borjan's death. According to the Taliban, Borjan was killed by Rabbani's tank shelling. Meanwhile, according to Bette Dam, Borjan was shot by a sniper on the road heading to Jalalabad and his death upset Mullah Omar, making him abstain from eating for three days. A US source stated that Rabbani was the person behind the assassination of Borjan since Rabbani disagreed with Borjan's proposal to bring
Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
to trial. Previously, Borjan said to Pakistani journalists that ISI asked him to immediately execute Najibullah when the Taliban captured Kabul. According to
Carlotta Gall Carlotta Gall is a British journalist and author. She covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for ''The New York Times'' for twelve years. She was also their Istanbul bureau chief covering Turkey, and now covers the war in Ukraine. Career Daughter of ...
, Borjan was killed by his bodyguard. Later, Borjan was buried in Kandahar Province.


Legacy

The locals venerated Borjan's grave because of his strength. Many pilgrims visited his grave to do
Ziyarat ''Ziyara(h)'' ( ''ziyārah'', "visit") or ''ziyarat'' (, ''ziyārat'', "pilgrimage"; , "visit") is a form of pilgrimage to sites associated with the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his family members and descendants (including the Shī'ī Imāms), ...
, hoping for a blessing.


References


Bibliography

* * * *{{cite book , last1=Qazizai , first1=Fazelminallah , last2=Sands , first2=Chris , title=Night Letters: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Afghan Islamists Who Changed the World , date=2019 , publisher=Hurst , location=London , isbn=9781787381964 1958 births 1996 deaths People from Kandahar Province Afghan Islamists Mujahideen members of the Soviet–Afghan War Taliban leaders