Mullah Dadullah - Redux
good mixed news!
The Good:
Afghan forces have trapped up to 200 Taliban fighters in a southern village ...since Saturday… “possible that Mullah Dadullah is among” those ...
The Bad:
"We are trying to get him to surrender and to arrest these Taliban without fighting,” he said.
...[demanded that they] surrender or face military action. He did not mention any deadline for negotiations.
*sigh* I guess he is an intelligence gold mine, but... yet another of the many reasons I do the blogging and others do the soldiering.
The Ugly:
Dadullah is aged about 40 and is said to come from the Kakar tribe, from the Kandahar region, which is renowned for its fighting prowess. He lost one of his legs after stepping on a landmine shortly after joining the Taliban in 1994.
...So vicious was he that during one particularly brutal assignment in 1998 to “pacify” ethnic minority Hazaras, a Shia group in Bamian province, he massacred hundreds of civilians. It was too much even for Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s one-eyed spiritual leader, who relieved him of his command.
There’s a one eyed, one legged flyin’ purple people slayer joke in there somewhere…
...Unlike other Taliban leaders who never allow themselves to be photographed for religious and security reasons, Dadullah seems to crave the attention, giving television interviews and calling foreign journalists on his satellite phone.
...Recruitment DVDs on sale across Afghanistan and Pakistan show the one-legged guerrilla commander in various poses - blasting a target with a heavy machine gun, dishing out blessings and ordaining a succession of would-be “martyrs”.
...Just like Zarqawi, his starring role in propaganda DVDs has successfully drawn in scores of suicide bombers and thousands of fighters to the cause. And just like Zarqawi, his fondness for beheadings means his followers fear him almost as much as his enemies.
...He never spends the whole night in one place, fearing coalition air strikes.
Mullah Dullah? You couldn’t have come up with a better name if you tried.
But then, he probably had a real hard childhood, and just needs a hug.
Send Rosie.
Posted by ZZMike on 04/24/07 at 01:10 PM
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