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Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1- TB-36-Mullah Omar-4

Mullah Omar: 'Jihad Strategies and a Future Vision’ a follow-up

Taliban launch offensive in northern Afghan province. Taliban fighters train at a camp in the northenrn province of Faryab. Foreign fighters set up shop in northern Afghanistan. This is the first Taliban spring offensive which the Afghan security forces will face without the full support of international combat troops. Winter snowfall leads to a big lull in the fighting according to Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer who now works for the Soufan Group, an intelligence consultancy. “Then in the spring, just like the return of the robin, it’s fighting season,” he says. “They make a big deal about it, but it’s just basically when the weather permits them to move more easily.” He adds that the spring offensive will be designed to probe for weaknesses in the Afghan armed forces. “They have no interest in talking right now. This will be one of the first times when there’s really a lot less foreign troops so they are going to push as hard as they can to see how strong the Afghan military really is. We are all about to find out.”

For this purpose, the Islamic Emirate is going to launch the spring operations under the inspirational name of ‘Azm’ (i.e. Resolve, Perseverance or Determination) with the chants of ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ (Allah is the Greatest) at 5 a.m. on the following Friday, 5 th Rajab 1436 A.H (lunar), 4th Taurus 1394 A.H. (solar), 24th April 2015.The name ‘Azm’ and the date 5th Rajab are adopted for good omen as ‘Azm’ means resolve or determination and those messengers of Allah Almighty who showed perseverance against His enemies have been celebrated as ‘Determined Messengers’ 

Everyone was quick to blame the so-called Islamic State for a brutal bombing in Jalalabad. An ISIS spokesman says it wasn’t them. And U.S. officials agree. ISIS loyalists may have claimed credit for Saturday bombing that killed at least 35 people in eastern Afghanistan.

“We have not yet seen evidence of ISIS direction or support of the attacks.  ““ISIS was not behind the deadly blast in Jalalabad, and we condemn such an attack,” Sheikh Muslim Dost told. “This is an act of the Pakistani agencies to damage reputation of the ISIS.”

Whether ISIS was responsible or not, the group’s claims that it’s extending its reach from West Africa to South Asia appear to be overblown.

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With major territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, ISIS appears to have struggled to expand its state outside the Middle East. The group may have members around the world embracing its brand. That doesn’t mean those jihadists are able to expand the ISIS caliphate, experts said."They tell the people a new government is coming, and that government will start its own construction," said another tribal elder anonymously for security reasons. The foreign fighter enclaves are not just in Kunduz, said Danishi. Some are based in neighbouring Takhar province, however, the fighters' centre of command is in Badakhshan.

Previous: Taliban said it will "launch the spring operations under the inspirational name of 'Azm' (determination) at 5 a.m. on 24 April 2015 It said the "main targets of these operations" will be "foreign occupiers, especially their permanent military bases...officials of the stooge regime, their military constellations, especially their intelligence, interior ministry, and defense ministry officials." Aside from the Taliban, the Afghan government has also repeatedly warned of the Islamic State (IS) group making inroads into the country

Reportedly, Leader of the ISIL terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died and members of the Takfiri group in Iraq have already sworn allegiance to Abu Ala Afri as his successor, Arab media reports said on Sunday 26 April.Recently, ISIS leader Abu-Al-Baghdadi has called Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, fool and an illiterate warlord, according to Liveleak With Abu-Al-Baghdadi calling Mullah Omar a fool, this will be another Jihad for ISIS.

Reportedly IS worries the Taliban leadership. They sent a two-man delegation last year, reportedly to demand that self-appointed "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi accept, as al-Qaeda had, the precedence of Omar as Amir al-Mu'mineen ("commander of the faithful"), a title that traditionally belonged to Islam's caliphs as successors of the prophet Muhammad.

–C: The TB representatives demanding that Baghdadi recognize Omar as the first claimant to the title of Caliph is significant, they do understand that there can not be a second claimant. Contrary to what the text in the reporting reflects instead of TB worries we should be reading this as a formal way of dealing before the hadith take force: -- "Whoever gave the pledge of allegiance to a man without consulting the Muslims, then he should not be given the pledge nor the one who gave him the pledge, lest they both should get killed" (reported by Imam al-Bukhari in his "Sahih") is a testimony for that. And in another phrase, it is "he should not be followed". ___ Baghdadi And also: The Taliban were

rebuffed. Baghdadi dismissed Omar as a fool and an illiterate, arguing that IS had achieved more in two years than the Taliban had in a decade.

- C: Here again it is not the amount of ground you hold but to be appointed by “those who loose and bind, and Omar is two decades ago in front of around 1500 Islamic clerics and followers bestowed with the title. Baghdadi blamed for not consulting claimed the title last year, here again the second will be killed- Baghdadi. The TB representatives with the message did not so out of fear for Baghdadi but in accordance with Islamic rulings pointed him at the Islamic Hadits; he rebuffed and dismissed..

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-- ...He who swears allegiance to a Caliph should give him the pledge of his hand and the sincerity of his heart (i.e. submit to him both outwardly as well as inwardly). He should obey him to the best of his capacity. If another man comes forward (as a claimant to Caliphate), disputing his authority, they (the Muslims) should behead the latter ....[Sahih Muslim, Book 20, Hadith #4546] When oath of allegiance has been taken for two caliphs, kill the one for whom the oath

was taken later. Hadith, Book 19, Number 4568: Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: The Messenger of Allah said.

--C: Baghdadi claiming to have a higher and better Islamic education and understanding of Islam as no other knows that Mullah Omar is a serious threat to him as he himself is according to hadits the false claimant and understands the consequences.’ His balking to Omar could reflect serious arrogance to Islamic ruling.

“If the Afghan Taliban has proven anything over the last decade, it is that it is resilient, is militarily effective, has operational staying power, and can withstand exogenous shocks. All of that means that it is going to take more than just a relatively small ISK network, which up until this point has remained untested, to go militarily toe-to-toe with the Taliban for any extended period of time,” Don Rassler, with West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, wrote in a March paper.

C: History could repeat itself.

Taliban launch offensive in northern Afghan province

BY BILL ROGGIO | April 27, 2015 | billroggio@longwarjournal.org | @billroggio

Taliban fighters train at a camp in the northenrn province of Faryab.Thousands of Taliban fighters attacked Afghan forces in the northern province of Kunduz in an effort to seize control of the provincial capital and outlying districts. Afghan officials have said that several areas of Kunduz are now under the jihadist group’s control.Taliban forces assaulted the districts of Imam Sahib, Aliabad, and Qala-i-Zal as well as areas in Kunduz city over the weekend. The chief of Kunduz’s provincial council claimed that “about 2,000 heavily-armed insurgents attacked” the district center in Imam Sahib, and that

contact with more than 500 Afghan security personnel in the district has been lost, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.The governor of Kunduz conceded that the Taliban have taken control of several villages and that security forces have abandoned at least three outposts. The governor also claimed that the Taliban organized the offensive with fighters from other Afghan provinces, and six foreign

fighters – four Tajiks and two “Chechens” – were among 40 Taliban fighters killed during the fighting, TOLOnews reported.Security forces are said to have beat back the Taliban assault in Qala-i-Zal district, but fighting is ongoing in Imam Sahib, Aliabad, and the Gor Tepa area in Kunduz city.The security situation has deteriorated in Kunduz since last year. The head of the provincial council estimated that more than 65 percent of the province is under Taliban control.

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The Taliban touted the Kunduz offensive on its official propaganda website, Voice of Jihad. The jihadist group claimed that its fighters “seized as many as 21 combat posts and captured 6 tanks including 2 vehicles filled with heavy and small arms and ammunition tanks in the limits of Kunduz city.”The Taliban also claimed it killed or wounded “several dozens of the enemy soldiers, police and Arbakis [tribal militiamen],” including “top-ranking officers and commanders.” The group also stated it captured 55 security personnel, “mostly Arbakis.” The Taliban’s claims cannot be independently confirmed. Afghan officials claimed 16 security personnel were killed or wounded during the fighting.The Kunduz assault is the first major push by the Taliban under its newly-announced spring offensive, which the group has dubbed “Azm” (resolve or determination). The Taliban said that Afghan security personnel would be a prime target of this year’s offensive, as US and Coalition forces have withdrawn the bulk of their combat personnel. Only an estimated 10,000 US personnel and several thousand NATO troops remain in country.The current fighting in Kunduz was preceded by major Taliban attacks in the districts of Chahar Darah and Dasht-i-Archi last October. The Taliban took control of the districts during the fighting. It is unclear if Afghan forces have since regained full control of the areas.Kunduz and neighboring provinces were relatively peaceful after the US toppled the Taliban regime in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the US. In 2009, the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which has integrated into the Taliban’s command structure in the Afghan north, began destabilizing the northern provinces and took control of several districts in Kunduz. Additionally, the jihadist groups made major inroads in other provinces, and even established training camps in the previously quiet provinces of Samangan and Sar-i-Pul.The Taliban have been growing increasingly bold in the north over the past several months. In addition to seizing two districts in Kunduz, the Taliban overran a district in Jawzjan province in December 2014. That same month the jihadist group publicized one of its training camps in the northern province of Faryab.

Foreign fighters set up shop in northern Afghanistan

"They tell the people a new government is coming, and that government will start its own construction," said another tribal elder anonymously for security reasons. The foreign fighter enclaves are not just in Kunduz, said Danishi. Some are based in neighbouring Takhar province, however, the fighters' centre of command is in Badakhshan. Residents of Kunduz province concerned after black-masked fighters take control of their villages. Despite tendencies to label the newcomers as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or "Daesh", the group does not refer to itself as such, and neither do officials or villagers. The group mainly consists of Chechens and Uzbeks, say elders and Afghan officials, among them a smattering of Tajiks, Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghan Taliban.

Bethany Matta | 27 Apr 2015  Foreign fighters have moved in to three of Kunduz province's seven districts [Al Jazeera]

Kunduz, Afghanistan - Tribal elders aren't sure who the estimated 50 foreign fighters with their families are - or how they got here. Just six months ago, the Afghan military

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conducted operations in Chardara district in northern Kunduz province to push the Taliban beyond city limits. Now, foreign fighter enclaves dot this province's rapidly changing political landscape. According to residents and local officials, foreign fighters and their families have taken up residence in three of the province's seven districts. "Chardara, Archi and Imam Seheb," confirmed Hamdullah Danishi, deputy governor of Kunduz. Since their arrival about five months ago, 10 tribal elders have been killed - four in the past few weeks alone - along with about 100 residents. "A man doesn't know when he leaves the house if he'll make it back home," said a tribal elder who requested anonymity because of increasing threats he's received. "All the power is with them."

Only their eyes "We don't know who they are," another elder chimed in. "They talk in a language we don't understand and wear black masks to hide their faces. We just see their eyes." Despite tendencies to label the newcomers as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or "Daesh", the group does not refer to itself as such, and neither do officials or villagers. The group mainly consists of Chechens and Uzbeks, say elders and Afghan officials, among them a smattering of Tajiks, Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghan Taliban. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and Chechen fighters have for years been in the region seeking a passage into Central Asia. IMU recently declared its support for ISIL, raising concerns about future dynamics in the region. A striking element that sets the new foreign group apart, and a measure of the rapidly changing fight in Afghanistan, is the role of women. According to officials, the wives of foreign fighters in Chardara are actively involved in bomb-making. They're also serving as doctors, searching houses, and teaching Islam. They remind female villagers not to leave home without a male relative, and tell their husbands to go to the mosque for prayers. Until now in Chardara, women serving on the front lines has been unheard of. However, several months ago during an attack in Qali a Zal, a Turkmen-dominated district here, a Uzbek woman was killed in a firefight.

Taking over The newcomers are present in every aspect of people's lives. According to Chardara residents, the fighters now go door-to-door demanding anywhere from 5,000 to 300,000 Afghani ($100-$5,000). Older girls have stopped attending classes. School curriculum and dress are now regulated, and so is the amount of money spent on marriages.

People travelling to and from Kunduz City are monitored, as are those who fail to attend prayers at the mosque, locals say. Civilians are unable to meet government officials without permission. Over the past three months, there has been a noticeable uptick in attacks in Kunduz City, particularly targeting government installations. Construction has also come to a halt. "They tell the people a new government is coming, and that

government will start its own construction," said another tribal elder anonymously for security reasons. The foreign fighter enclaves are not just in Kunduz, said Danishi. Some are based in neighbouring Takhar province, however, the fighters' centre of command is in Badakhshan. "From here they go to help them there, and from there they come to help them here,"  Danishi said. The stretch of road from Kunduz City to Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakshan, is about 240 kilometres. The scenery is some of the most beautiful in all of Afghanistan. Gul Muhamad Bedar, deputy governor of Badakhshan, sits in his office in Faizabad. He doesn't dispute that the foreign fighters' base is here. When neighbouring Pakistan launched military

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operations in North Waziristan, foreign fighters - Tajiks, Chechens, Uzbeks, and Pakistanis - fled to Afghanistan, said Bedar.

Eventually they came north to Khostak, an area in Jurm district. "They have more than 600 Taliban there now. It's like a cancer cell. It started with 100 Afghan Taliban. Then 400 foreign fighters and their families joined them. The cancer is spreading rapidly." Proof is evident after a fierce assault launched against Afghan security forces manning checkpoints in Jurm recently. According to Bedar, 18 soldiers were killed in the attack, almost half were beheaded, seven went missing, and 11 were wounded. However, talk among other government officials suggests the actual number of casualties was much higher. Several families of the beheaded soldiers were angry after their bodies were returned with heads placed with the wrong corpses.  Over the past few years, the Afghan military and international forces have launched several large-scale offensives against the Taliban and foreign fighters, however, the goal of uprooting armed groups from the northern provinces has been largely unsuccessful. The operations proved to be temporary fixes, moving fighters from one area to the next - and then back again. Bedar and officials in Kunduz said they were fighting a losing battle without additional government support. They need more troops and, in particular, air support. "Without it success is impossible," said Bedar

The tragic incident of Jalalabad…..who is accountable and who is not?

Created on Wednesday, 22 April 2015 01:45 Every so often poignant incidents occur around the globe which stir up various kind of reactions. Generally, every tragedy leaves a deep mark of wretchedness on the whole nation. Both the coalition and opposition of the government share the grief and express their condolences to the bereaved families. Media outlets, news channels and other resources devote themselves to broadcasting the incident. Every member of the society becomes active in assisting the families of the victims in any possible way. Security organs, intelligence circles and high ranking government officials are held responsible who feel a sense of guilt too therefore they try their best to appear at the exact location as quickly as possible. They usually reschedule their trips and cut them short if already on the way to placate the masses.

Unfortunately, as our beloved homeland is under the yoke of malevolent foreign occupation and our masses are suffering from heartrending incidents daily. Our courageous and Muslim people are still dedicated and enthusiastic enough to share and relieve the grievances and sufferings of the bereaved families but regretfully the officials of the stooge regime are divested of this sense of responsibility. Instead the politicians of puppet Kabul regime try to exploit the situation for their own benefits. The clever and veteran one is that who succeed in placing the blame or involving his political rivals into the incident and the most perceptive one is that who exploits this kind of tragic incidents as raw material for his malicious propaganda and information purposes. On the other hand, some news channels and media resources are largely controlled by one pressure group or another and they do not and cannot feel any sense of responsibility to discern the truth from false and reality from propaganda.

The recent tragic incident of Jalalabad which took place on 18 th April 2015, resulted in the awful killing and wounding of more than one hundred innocent countrymen. It was really a heart wrenching shock for families who lost their loved ones in this terrible incident. This horrific incident has deeply frightened our masses who are already suffering because on one side, the ordinary people become target of these brutalities and on the other side, the foreign

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invaders as well as the stooge admin of Kabul neither have any plans to prevent them nor any intention of doing so. Instead they are themselves involved in the miseries of the innocent people for exploiting these kinds of incidents for their malicious political objectives. In this way, they want to convince the masses that instead of withdrawing, the foreign invaders should remain here so that they could find international support for their personal vested interests. Another perception is that it is the coalesced effort of the stooge regime and its foreign masters for utilizing it as a vast propaganda tool to develope pressure against the opponent forces. The assertion of the head of this stooge admin, Ashraf Ghani, in ‘Badakhshan’ province on previous Saturday that the armed Taliban should either chose the Afghan government or the international terrorists, was an explicit indication that they want to exploit these kinds of dreadful incidents for their malicious objectives.

It is a ridiculous logic! Why should we give in to the American invasion and accept their puppet regime? Isn’t it a complete surrender? We are following the path of sacred and pious Jihad and want to end the brutal invasion and occupation which is wholly and solely responsible for all these tragedies. We have constantly said that Afghanistan is the homeland of all Afghans. We have assured everyone including the neighbouring countries that this country is not a threat for others. The Kabul based stooge regime is assigned for spreading baseless propaganda against Mujahidin and it is the old American modus operandi. The Afghan masses have fully discerned that the foreign occupiers have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people under the cover of this malicious propaganda and the brutal invaders are still sanguinary for shedding the blood of innocent Afghans by prolonging their sufferings and tragedies!!!

April 21, 2015. It can’t be more disastrous than this, when two biggest terrorists organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Afghan Taliban declares Jihad against each other. Recently, ISIS leader Abu-Al-Baghdadi has called Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, fool and an illiterate warlord, according to Liveleak. According to Liveleak story, ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi has also claimed that his organization has captured more land, than Afghan Taliban has captured in past decade. The claim made by ISIS leader is apparently true, after 9/11 attack on USA.

The American and NATO forces destroyed all the safe havens of Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan and North Waziristan (Pakistan). ISIS is more like new kids in the block, who have their own presence in the parts of Iraq and want to spread in other parts of the world, in order to create their own caliphate.A lot of foreigners have joined Abu-Al-Baghdadi terrorist organization in past one year. The terrorist organization is famous for their brutality. Recently, they have released a video of beheading Christians. Not, only this, the organization has strong presence on Twitter, through which they promote themselves and recruit new foreigners.

With Abu-Al-Baghdadi calling Mullah Omar a fool, this will be another Jihad for ISIS. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar has been past 13 years, since the American and NATO forces launched the operation in Afghanistan. Some spy agencies believes Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar is hiding in Pakistan, services provided by Pakistan Army and ISI. According to one of senior Police official Chief of Pakistan, located in Afghanistan confirms to Afghanistan Radio Channel that he’d seen documents revealing that both the groups had announced Jihad – the holy war – against each other.

Where they fighting? Recently, a suicide bomb blast took place in Jalalabad, Afghanistan near a bank, which took a life of 33 people and injured more than 100. And, the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, blamed Islamic State militants behind this attack without revealing much information. But, according to some think-tanks the holy-Jihad is not

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spreading into Afghanistan but its more about capturing the parts of Helmand province, which is the base of Afghan Taliban Afghanistan’s largest opium producer. By exporting opium in western countries, Afghan Taliban has generated a lot of income to continue their Jihad in Afghanistan. But, it seems like competition has grown now, and ISIS will compete for it. But, we are sure, CIA and other Spy agencies will be very happy to hear about this Jihad in Afghanistan.

Are the Taliban and their leader becoming yesterday's men?April 25, 2015 Washington: If you are in the killing business, you understand that proof of life counts for something. But it's been more than 14 years since we clapped eyes on Mullah Mohammad Omar, the spectral leader of the Afghan Taliban, and stubbornly, he still refuses to emerge from hiding – or even to send a verifiable message. Despite restlessness and infighting on the fringes of some of the 20-odd militias that coalesce under the banner of the Taliban, and a belittling questioning of his spiritual and jihadist credentials by the leadership of the so-called Islamic State, the one-eyed Omar sits tight, fuelling speculation in some quarters that perhaps he is dead or that his activity is constrained by his likely hosts - Pakistan's military intelligence agency, the ISI.

In recent days, the challenge from Islamic State became more than rhetorical. The IS claim of responsibility for a suicide bombing in the eastern city of Jalalabad on April 18, in which 35 civilians died and another 125 were wounded, was as much a stab at the Taliban as at the government in Kabul. The regional stage is set for what would be a dramatic entrance, should Omar feel the urge to flag to followers that he is indeed in charge of his movement or - even more daringly - to make a public appearance.

If, as most analysts agree, Omar is alive, then he is one of history's survivors. He has outlived his troublesome former guest, Osama bin Laden; he's seen off all but the last few thousand US and coalition troops who came to hunt him; and he has survived Hamid Karzai's decade as president of the country that Omar himself ruled from 1996 to 2001.

Were he to emerge, Omar would find some new players in the never-ending drama of "what's to become of Afghanistan". Karzai's successor, the more worldly Ashraf Ghani, seems more amenable to Afghanistan's neighbours; Beijing has arrived on the scene, offering itself as a broker of peace; but the Islamic State has arrived too, bent on war.

Despite repeated denials by Washington and the Taliban in particular, it seems that talks about talking are underway. A Taliban delegation went to China in January; despite its history of double-dealing, Pakistan these days insists that it wants a negotiated settlement; and despite the $US10 million price that Washington has on Omar's head, the White House has long acknowledged that talks are its only ticket out of the Afghan quagmire. To get to "talking about talking" indicates that the Taliban might be wrestling seriously with the existential question that confronts all insurgencies: do they fight on, seriously believing that they can win back full control; or do they negotiate from a position of strength?

Both Bin Laden and Omar did a bunk as US-led forces invaded in October 2001. Al-Qaeda's leader escaped over the border into Pakistan, where an American dragnet finally tracked him down in May 2011. Pakistan was also believed to be the destination of Omar, last seen riding pillion on a motorcycle driven by his brother-in-law as it sped away from Kandahar, the Taliban's southern stronghold.

Bin Laden stayed in touch; Omar became invisible. These days, senior commanders openly complain, giving foreign media interviews in which they criticise Omar's reclusiveness and voice distrust of his number two - Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour - who some accuse of installing his own cronies.

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"If Mullah Omar was in good condition, he'd send proof that he's alive," a former aide told a foreign reporter, before noting that a $US25 million bounty on the head of al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri did not stop Bin Laden's successor from communicating with his followers. Mullah Abdul Raqib Takhari, an outspoken commander who reportedly threatened to act as he pleased unless he was allowed to meet Omar, was executed in February. Another commander said to be in league with a rival of Mansour's was killed last year, according to reports.

IS worries the Taliban leadership. They sent a two-man delegation last year, reportedly to demand that self-appointed "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi accept, as al-Qaeda had, the precedence of Omar as Amir al-Mu'mineen ("commander of the faithful"), a title that traditionally belonged to Islam's caliphs as successors of the prophet Muhammad. –C: "Whoever gave the pledge of allegiance to a man without consulting the Muslims, then he should not be given the pledge nor the one who gave him the pledge, lest they both should get killed" (reported by Imam al-Bukhari in his "Sahih") is a testimony for that. And in another phrase, it is "he should not be followed". ___

The Taliban were rebuffed. Baghdadi dismissed Omar as a fool and an illiterate, arguing that IS had achieved more in two years than the Taliban had in a decade. The IS leader then dispatched his own recruiters to Afghanistan and Pakistan where - despite great distrust of outsiders - they have made limited progress. Last year a dozen Taliban commanders, more from Pakistan than from Afghanistan, pledged their allegiance to Baghdadi. Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, who commanded a reported 300 fighters in the south, was anointed leader of IS in Afghanistan. Much to the irritation of some in the Taliban, maps of the global region that IS claims as its caliphate include Afghanistan and neighbouring Iran, to which they give the ancient Islamic name Khorasan.

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Ismail Khan, a warlord dominant in the west of the country, claimed that IS had a presence in the provinces of Herat and Farah. In February, Shiite community leaders accused IS supporters of abducting 13 Hazara Shiites in Zabul. In Kunduz, in the north, provincial governor Mohammad Omar Safi claimed that 70 IS-affiliated fighters were on the move. And in Helmand, in the south, Afghan forces claimed two former Taliban commanders who were actively recruiting in the name of IS had been killed - and that Khadim was one of those accounted for.

All of this could be dismissed as local politicking, but on April 5 the Taliban did an odd thing - it used that infidel creation, the internet, to publish a 5000-word hagiography of Omar, in which it claimed that he was "still the leader in the present hierarchy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" and that all in the Taliban must unite and obey him. Claiming he still controlled 95 per cent of Afghanistan, it boasted of his management of the leadership council and military commanders in Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Straight-faced, it also celebrated the leader's charisma, sense of humour, compassion and expertise with weapons - especially rocket launchers. There was no proof of life, but the date of publication was telling - it was the 19th anniversary of a day in Kandahar when Omar paraded with one of the most precious objects held by Afghanistan: a cloak said to have belonged to the prophet Muhammad. That day Omar was acclaimed as commander of the faithful. But for all their rival claims, Baghdadi and Omar have a hideous common point of reference. Years before IS even came into being, the Taliban had resorted to the same brutal tactics that cause so much revulsion around the world: massacres; ethnic cleansing; brutal repression and abuses, of women in particular; adulterers were stoned; and the stadium executions of accused wrongdoers were government-sponsored spectacles.

A series of recent predictions of willingness by the Taliban to talk peace remain just that - predictions. And as the snow melts to herald the start of  Afghanistan's summer fighting season, there are reports of the IS-style beheading of Afghan government forces in the

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country's north-eastern Badakhshan province. Taliban scholar Ahmed Rashid observes: "The ISI, which helped arm and fund the Taliban after 2001, has now made a U-turn and is trying to persuade the Taliban to talk to Kabul. "The [Omar biography] suits the ISI and the moderate wing of the Taliban, which are keen to get peace talks started. To do that, the ISI needs to demonstrate that Omar is alive and in command. Pakistani and Afghan officials have told me that for peace talks to start, an endorsement by Omar is vital to persuade all Taliban to come on board – the essay could be the start of a Taliban campaign to do just that." But despite all the efforts to talk peace, war still rages. Last year was the worst since the US-led invasion of 2001 for Afghan soldiers and civilians killed - and the toll for the first quarter of 2015 is up eight per cent on last year, according to the United Nations.

For now at least, analysts don't see IS taking root in Afghanistan. "I am a sceptic about IS in Afghanistan, given the Taliban's entrenched position there and the support they have from [Pakistani intelligence]," Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran and former White House adviser now at the Brookings Institution, told Fairfax Media. "Mullah Omar and his loyalists have fought too long and too hard to let a usurper spoil their plans when they believe victory is only two years away.  The Pakistani army shares those convictions." Professor Daniel Markey agreed, arguing that as a brand for splinter factions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, IS's courting of Taliban commanders does not amount to a serious power struggle.

Yet having made that point in an email exchange, Markey second-guesses himself: "Then again, similar points were made about al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Also, as compared to al-Qaeda, [IS] is pursuing a state-building strategy in ways that could be quite appealing to both Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, who see themselves as insurgents and defenders of their faith and nation, not terrorists. "Moreover, as [Afghan President Ashraf Ghani] pointed out in his recent trip to DC, Afghanistan holds a special place in the jihadist mythology, such that [IS] is likely to make it a focal point." All of which raises a question. Who's driving - Pakistani intelligence or the Commander of the Faithful? And perhaps another - if the Taliban didn't have Omar, would we still have the Taliban?

04.21. ISIS Now Says It Didn’t Bomb Afghanistan Everyone was quick to blame the so-called Islamic State for a brutal bombing in Jalalabad. An ISIS spokesman says it wasn’t them. And U.S. officials agree.ISIS loyalists may have claimed credit for Saturday bombing that killed at least 35 people in eastern Afghanistan. But U.S. officials now believe that Taliban fighters—not the Middle East-based extremist group—carried out the strike. Had ISIS been responsible, it would have been among the deadliest attacks by the group outside the Middle East. It’s one sign among many that the international expansion by the self-described Islamic State might not be as serious as it once appeared—at least, not so far.

“We have not yet seen evidence of ISIS direction or support of the attacks. Jalalabad continues to be an area with significant Taliban influence and this attack fits the pattern of past Taliban attacks in the region—underscoring that this attack does not represent a fundamental change in the security environment,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Chris Belcher, a spokesman for NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “Along with our partners in the Afghan security forces, we are looking closely to determine any connection with ISIS.” What’s more, a spokesman for ISIS in Afghanistan denied that his group was responsible for the attack, which sparked outrage among Afghans.“ISIS was not behind the deadly blast in Jalalabad, and we condemn such an attack,” Sheikh Muslim Dost told The Daily Beast. “This is an act of the Pakistani agencies to damage reputation of the ISIS.”

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That both sides are condemning the attacks suggest neither wants to be held accountable for the deaths of mostly poor Afghan civilians.Whether ISIS was responsible or not, the group’s claims that it’s extending its reach from West Africa to South Asia appear to be overblown. In fact, there’s little evidence so far to support the theory that ISIS is expanding its state outside the Middle East—and with it, the danger it could pose to the West.While ISIS has dispatched emissaries to places like Afghanistan to make financial promises in exchange for allegiance to the Islamic State brand, three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast there is no evidence of widespread funding or fighters traveling from the Arab world to places like Afghanistan.Rather, U.S. officials said, they see ISIS trying to reach a more basic goal: to establish relationships with fellow jihadists. Former Taliban members in Afghanistan have “defected” to ISIS; militants in Libya have pledged allegiance, as has Boko Haram in Nigeria. But so far, these officials added, they aren’t seeing the terror groups banding together in an operational or strategic sense. “We are seeing the first stages of relationship building,” a senior defense official told The Daily Beast.With major territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, ISIS appears to have struggled to expand its state outside the Middle East. The group may have members around the world embracing its brand. That doesn’t mean those jihadists are able to expand the ISIS caliphate, experts said.“ISIS wants you to think it is absolutely everywhere,” said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “ISIS has players in far more theaters than it can be considered a major force in.” The suicide bombing in the city of Jalalabad was among the deadliest attacks to hit the country in months, killing mostly civilians. Shortly after the strike, a spokesman for the Islamic State in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack while the Taliban condemned the bombing. Even Afghan President Ashraf Ghani tied the attack to ISIS—though he did not provide details.“Taliban did not claim responsibility, but Daesh claimed responsibility,” Ghani stated, using a prerogative for ISIS. At its peak, ISIS has released maps showings it hopes to expand its caliphate through much of Africa and into Asia. As it expanded its land grab last year in the Middle East, various groups vowed allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group reciprocated that relationship in several countries, including in Afghanistan.In a 16-minute video released in January, Hafez Sayed Khan Orakzai, a former commander of the Pakistani Taliban, pronounced himself the current leader of ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan, commonly referred to as Islamic State Khorasan (ISK), a historic name for the region. ISK’s goal was, in part, to unseat the Taliban’s grip on the region; the new group consisted largely of defectors of the Taliban. But since appearing in that video, Orakzai and his group had rarely been heard from—until this month.First, the group claimed it killed three Pakistani soldiers. Then, on Saturday, ISK posted a photo of a man identified as the suicide bomber. “Many congratulations to all on the first…attack by the Province of Khorasan,” the group wrote in a tweet, according to The Wall Street Journal.

ISK has struggled to establish itself in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, residents have not been receptive. Moreover, the Taliban has fiercely fought ISK, which rejects Taliban leader Mullah Omar. The ongoing U.S. presence in Afghanistan also has made it challenging for the group to expand.“If the Afghan Taliban has proven anything over the last decade, it is that it is resilient, is militarily effective, has operational staying power, and can withstand exogenous shocks. All of that means that it is going to take more than just a relatively small ISK network, which up until this point has remained untested, to go militarily toe-to-toe with the Taliban for any

Cees Page 11 of 12 15/04/2023

By Capt (Ret) C de Waart, feel free to share: in Confidence

extended period of time,” Don Rassler, with West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, wrote in a March paper. In Pakistan, ISK confronts an omnipresent Pakistani military and an unwelcoming public, Rassler wrote. It is unclear why Ghani tied the attack to ISIS. Some officials privately speculate the president, who wants U.S. troops to extend their stay, hoped the attack would prompt U.S. military would keep its troops in longer.—with additional reporting from Sami Yousafzai in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Regards Cees During an interview conducted one decade ago, when asked about the status of Osama

bin Laden and Mullah Omar, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri responded: Jihad in the path of Allah is greater than any individual or organization. It is a struggle between Truth and Falsehood, until Allah Almighty inherits the earth and those who live in it. Mullah Muhammad Omar and Sheikh Osama bin Laden -- may Allah protect them from all evil -- are merely two soldiers of Islam in the journey of jihad, while the struggle between Truth [Islam] and Falsehood [non-Islam] transcends time (The Al Qaeda Reader, p.182).

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