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Warlords and militia leaders
Warlords and militia leaders, pro- and anti-government
Introductory
Warlords and leaders: areas of influence (2004), BBC News
Clear introduction to the major regional leaders, as of 2004.
Afghanistan: Focus on warlordism in northeast, IRIN, UN OCHA, 1 June 2005
Afghanistan: Return of the Warlords, Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, June 2002
Documents early regional return of both the Taliban and warlords following US and UN occupation of Kabul.
Groups and individuals
Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party), GlobalSecurity.org
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: From Holy Warrior to Wanted Terrorist, Omid Marzban, Terrorism Monitor, Volume 4, Issue 18, (September 21, 2006)
“Hekmatyar is not blinded by a radical Islamic vision. For him, Islam is more about politics than it is about religion. In fact, this makes him more dangerous than Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who has surrounded himself with illiterate religious leaders. Hekmatyar, on the other hand, is more adept at military and political strategy. Additionally, Hekmatyar has led wars throughout Afghan territory and is completely familiar with the country's diverse geography, culture and beliefs.
"'Hekmatyar's ability of imposing his inspirations, especially on the youth, is unbelievable,' says Qazi Muhammad Amin Waqad, a former member of Hezb-e-Islami's leadership council and Hekmatyar's former deputy. 'During the past few years, Hekmatyar has found an absolutely new Hezb-e-Islami by absorbing new members—most of them youths—who may not even know me,' added Waqad [5]."Every week, Hekmatyar's Tanweer Weekly publishes in Shamshatoo refugee camp in Peshawar together with Estiqamat, a pro-Taliban magazine. In the August 10 issue of Tanweer, Hekmatyar again pledged to fight foreign troops in Afghanistan "till the last drop of blood moves in his body"—an expression always heard in Hekmatyar's speeches. By controlling this publication, Hekmatyar is able to recruit a tremendous amount of followers who are willing to die in order to kill a foreign soldier. Meanwhile, Hekmatyar uses his military experience to defeat the enemy (coalition and Afghan government soldiers), which for him are no different than the former Soviet army. In fact, among the three top insurgent leaders, who are located on each angle of the Triangle of Terror, Hekmatyar is considered the most powerful and the most dangerous for the current stability situation in Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan's Veteran Jihadi Leader: An Interview with Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad, Waliullah Rahmani, Spotlight on Terror, Volume 4, Issue 1 (May 3, 2007)
"Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad is a former member of the Hizb-e-Islami leadership council, a party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Waqad was one of three key anti-Soviet leaders of the mujahideen and served as Hekmatyar's lieutenant. He is a graduate of the Islamic Law Faculty of Kabul University and is now a leading member of the National Front, an opposition group to Hamid Karzai's administration."
Faryadi Zardad, Rogues Gallery: Africa-Asia, IRIN In-Depth, 10 July 2006
"Faryadi Zardad was a warlord in Afghanistan. As a result of the Talibans' rise to power in Afghanistan in 1996, Zardad arrived in the UK 1998 seeking asylum with a false passport. He was arrested in July 2003. The Zardad case is a landmark in British law history, since it is the first case where a non-UK citizen has been tried before a British court for crimes committed in another country. In the case of whether or not the UK authorities could extradite Pinochet to Spain , the Law Lords ruled that torture falls under universal jurisdiction, and thus the British court not only could, but was also obliged, to either try or extradite Zardad. Since Afghanistan made no request for extradition, Zardad was prosecuted in the UK. He has been convicted by London 's Criminal Court under the United Nations Convention Against Torture for crimes committed in his own country. In July 2005, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment."
Warlordism studies
Disarming Afghanistan’s Warlords, Jake Sherman, PRAXIS, Vol. 20, May 2005, pp. 5-16
The Politics of Center-Periphery Relations in Afghanistan, Barnett R. Rubin and Helena Malikyar, Center on International Cooperation, New York University, March 2003
"Under the constitution Afghanistan is a unitary state administered according to the principle of centralization. The reality of the exercise of power today is quite different."
"Tribes" and Warlords in Southern Afghanistan, 1980-2005, Antonio Giustozzi and Noor Ullah, Crisis States Research Centre Working Paper No. 7 (series 2), September 2006
Anthropological study stressing regional variations in conditions favouring warlordism.
'Good' State vs. 'Bad' Warlords? A Critique of State-Building Strategies in Afghanistan, Antonio Giustozzi, Crisis States Research Centre, Working Paper No. 51, October 2004
Warlordism in Comparative Perspective, Kimberly Marten, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Winter 2006/07), pp. 41–73
Useful study of warlordism and the causes and dynamics in four cases, including Afghanistan. Detailed political and anthropological analysis.
Warlords and narco-politics
Drug trafficking and the development of organized crime in post-Taliban Afghanistan, Mark Shaw, in Afghanistan's Drug Industry: Structure, functioning, dynamics and implications for counter-narcotics policy, Doris Buddenberg and William A. Byrd (eds.), UN Office on drugs and Crime and the World Bank, November 2006, pp 189-223.
See also:
- Opium and narco-politics, Australia in Afghanistan
- Afghanistan - politics, Australia in Afghanistan
- Who’s Who - Afghani, Australia in Afghanistan