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Warlord back in the fray as Taliban overwhelm Afghan north

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Taliban fighters" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/08/12/20210812-afghanistan-conflict-rtr.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>Taliban fighters record a message after seizing Pul-e- Khumri, capital of Baghlan province, Afghanistan, in this still image taken from a social media video, uploaded August 10, 2021. <em>Handout via Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The scene was a familiar one as warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum jetted into northern Afghanistan this week -- a promise of bloodshed and vengeance, and no apology for his vicious past.</p><p>Despite a series of war crimes linked to his forces, the Afghan government is hoping Dostum&#x27;s military acumen and seething hatred of the Taliban can help beat back the current insurgent offensive. </p><p>At 67, the greying Uzbek militia leader is not quite in the fighting shape of his youth -- he has just returned from medical treatment in Turkey -- but his desire to be on the frontline does not appear to have dimmed.</p><p>Loaded on a commercial jet with a contingent of commandos, Dostum headed north Wednesday to join the battle for Mazar-i-Sharif after his nearby Sheberghan stronghold was captured by the Taliban at the weekend. </p><p>Dostum was back in the fight. </p><div><strong>- Political survivor -</strong></div><p>The warlord&#x27;s prominence in the latest fight with the Taliban lays bare the long-simmering conundrum facing President Ashraf Ghani&#x27;s administration, which has struggled with on-again, off-again relationships with Afghanistan&#x27;s ubiquitous strongmen. </p><p>Ghani has repeatedly tried to distance himself from the country&#x27;s infamous warlords but only to bring them back into the fold in the time of need.</p><p>Former paratrooper, communist commander, warlord and vice president Dostum has been the very definition of a cunning political survivor forged over four decades of conflict in war-torn Afghanistan. </p><p>Hailing from northern Jawzjan province, a young Dostum enlisted in the Soviet-backed Afghan military in the 1970s and rose dramatically through the ranks -- only to abandon the government when it collapsed in the early 1990s. </p><p>From then a familiar pattern emerged. </p><p>Dostum would bend when circumstances demanded, and developed a knack for picking the winning side when it seemed his luck was running out.</p><p>During the brutal civil war of the 1990s, he frequently jumped from one ship to the next -- looking for the best deal in the fractious battle for Kabul that raged between several militia factions. </p><div><strong>- Accused of massacring prisoners -</strong></div><p>Over the years, Dostum has survived several ambushes and assassination attempts by both the Taliban and the Islamic State group.</p><p>And after being run out of the country by the Taliban during their rise to power, he returned in dramatic fashion -- as a CIA asset, and the tip of the spear of the US-led invasion that toppled his old foes. </p><p>He would later stand accused of massacring hundreds, if not thousands, of Taliban prisoners of war in 2001 -- including stuffing insurgents into shipping containers where they suffocated.</p><p>With the Taliban gone and a new power centre developing in Kabul, he again rose through the ranks of the defence forces before eventually becoming vice president in Ghani&#x27;s administration. </p><p>But his violent disposition never seemed to wane. </p><p>As the country&#x27;s vice president, Dostum was accused of torturing and raping a political rival, eventually leading to another temporary exile. </p><p>But he engineered another return and by 2020 was officially awarded the rank of &quot;marshal&quot; in the Afghan military. </p><p>With the Taliban again rampaging across the country, Dostum is back on the frontline along with a host of former militia leaders from the 1990s that were erstwhile allies and enemies. </p><p>&quot;The Taliban never learn from the past,&quot; Dostum told reporters after landing in Mazar, vowing to kill the jihadists.</p><p>&quot;The Taliban have come to the north several times but they were always trapped. It is not easy for them to get out.&quot; </p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1710320" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>