Sunday, September 11, 2005
Afghan RhetIraq: Deputy Defense Minister
Who: General Rahim Wardak (Afghan Deputy Defense Minister)
Source: Afgha.com
Quotes: From article dated 11/4/2004
Note: General Wardak's car was reported on 11/9/2005 as being shot at. First reported as an an exchange of gunfire between "soldiers and officers", a day later it was reported as an assassination attempt.
A contingent of British Army Gurkhas last week rescued an Afghan governor from a mansion overrun by forces loyal to a warlord [Abdul Rashid Dostum] allied to the international coalition.
The latest insurgency, and the fact that Gen Dostum has US backing in return for fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban, have fuelled criticism that America's support of warlords is destabilising the Karzai regime.
To the dismay of local politicians, the US-led Coalition, which is under increasing pressure to capture Osama bin Laden, is planning to re-arm the militias. Under Coalition proposals, up to 6,000 men would be trained as "national guards" and fight in the southern and eastern provinces where Taliban insurgents are regrouping and attacking Coalition soldiers.
Gen Rahim Wardak, the deputy defence minister, pleaded with the Americans last night to stop supporting dissident warlords, saying that the Kabul government was determined to rid the country of them before elections this autumn.
In last week's incident, Gen Dostum's forces overran Maimana, the capital of Faryab province, forcing the government to send 750 troops from the fledgling Afghan national army to restore order. Last night, the warlord's men agreed to withdraw.
Source: Afgha.com
Quotes: From article dated 11/4/2004
Note: General Wardak's car was reported on 11/9/2005 as being shot at. First reported as an an exchange of gunfire between "soldiers and officers", a day later it was reported as an assassination attempt.
A contingent of British Army Gurkhas last week rescued an Afghan governor from a mansion overrun by forces loyal to a warlord [Abdul Rashid Dostum] allied to the international coalition.
The latest insurgency, and the fact that Gen Dostum has US backing in return for fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban, have fuelled criticism that America's support of warlords is destabilising the Karzai regime.
To the dismay of local politicians, the US-led Coalition, which is under increasing pressure to capture Osama bin Laden, is planning to re-arm the militias. Under Coalition proposals, up to 6,000 men would be trained as "national guards" and fight in the southern and eastern provinces where Taliban insurgents are regrouping and attacking Coalition soldiers.
Gen Rahim Wardak, the deputy defence minister, pleaded with the Americans last night to stop supporting dissident warlords, saying that the Kabul government was determined to rid the country of them before elections this autumn.
In last week's incident, Gen Dostum's forces overran Maimana, the capital of Faryab province, forcing the government to send 750 troops from the fledgling Afghan national army to restore order. Last night, the warlord's men agreed to withdraw.
