Gul Haidar

Last updated
Haji Gul Haidar Abdul Raza
Born1962
Panjsher, Afghanistan
Allegiance Jamiat-e Islami, Government of Afghanistan
Service/branch Mujahideen, Afghan National Army
Years of service1979–present
Rank General

Gul Haider (or Gul Haidar) is a former mujahideen commander and official in the ministry of defense of Hamid Karzai's Afghan government. [1]

Mujahideen is the plural form of mujahid, the term for one engaged in Jihad.

Hamid Karzai President of Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who was the President of Afghanistan from 22 December 2001 to 29 September 2014, originally as an interim leader and then as President for almost ten years, from 7 December 2004 to 2014. He comes from a politically active family; Karzai's father, uncle and grandfather were all active in Afghan politics and government. Karzai and his father before him, Abdul Ahad Karzai, were each head of the Popalzai tribe of the Durrani tribal confederation.

Contents

Military career

Born in the Panjshir Valley of Afghanistan, Gul Haidar joined the forces of Ahmed Shah Massoud at the age of 17, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. While serving as one of Massoud's commanders, Gul Haidar lost a leg to a mine, and Massoud sent him to London to receive an artificial limb, after which he returned to Afghanistan to continue the war. [2]

Panjshir Valley valley

The Panjshir Valley is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. It is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 1,000,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks. In April 2004, it became the heart of the new Panjshir Province, having previously been part of Parwan Province.

Soviet–Afghan War War between the Soviet Union and Afghan insurgents, 1979-89

The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years, from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen, as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government, mostly in the rural countryside. The mujahideen groups were backed primarily by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, making it a Cold War proxy war. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran.

Land mine Explosive weapon, concealed under or on the ground

A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, although other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both.

During the Sieges of Kabul Gul Haidar controlled Gardana Kar-e Sakhi and lead the fighting that initially took place near the custom posts on the road to Jalalabad. According to one witness he controlled 40 RPG-7 rocket launchers, 10 82-mm mortars, 10 82-mm artillery pieces and 40 PK machine guns. [3] In February–March 1993 he was known to control the Tapi-e Salaam area of Kabul as well where his forces fired mortars at the men of Ali Akbar Qasemi who was in the university area. According to one source he was manning the artillery at T.V. Mountain in three month rotations along with General Baba Jalandar. [3] After the fall of Kabul in 1996 he remained loyal to Massoud, and was instrumental in preventing the Taliban from taking the Panjshir valley. [4]

Jalalabad Place in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan

Jalālābād, or Dzalalabad, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Nangarhar Province. Jalalabad is located at the junction of the Kabul River and the Kunar River. It is linked by an approximately 150-kilometre (95 mi) highway with Kabul to the west, and a 130-kilometre (80 mi) highway with the Pakistani city of Peshawar to the east. Jalalabad has a population of 356,274, making it one of the five largest cities of Afghanistan.

RPG-7 Portable rocket propelled grenade launcher

The RPG-7 is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union; it is now manufactured by the Russian company Bazalt. The weapon has the GRAU index 6G3.

Mortar (weapon) Artillery weapon that launches explosive projectiles at high angles

A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube fixed to a base plate with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. They launch explosive shells in high-arcing ballistic trajectories. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition.

Post-Taliban

General Gul Haidar commanded up to 1000 Afghan troops fighting alongside the Americans in the battles of Shah-e-Kot in Eastern Afghanistan in March 2002. [5] He was at the time the Ministry of Defense Commander for 4 southern provinces including Paktika, [6] Paktya and Ghazni. Since then he has largely traded in his guns for business and has become quite successful. [7] He currently owns a mansion in Shirpur, an area where lower class housing was demolished to make room for houses of government officials. [8]

Operation Anaconda military operation

Operation Anaconda took place in early March 2002. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. This operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 War in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. conventional forces participating in direct combat activities.

Relation with Abdullah Mujahid

Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid requested Haider as one of the witnesses who could refute the accusation that he was fired because he was suspected of collusion with anti-government forces. [1] [9] [10] Haider was one of the members of a commission who recommended a promotion for Mujahid.

Abdullah Mujahid is a citizen of Afghanistan who is still held in extrajudicial detention after being transferred from United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba — to an Afghan prison.

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Baba Jalandar Panjshiri was a commander of Jamiat-e Islami during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Civil War in Afghanistan. He was one of the senior commanders of Ahmed Shah Massoud and participated in the fighting that took place in Kabul from 1992–1996 between Government forces and militia of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Hezbe wahdat to control the capital, Along with Gul Haidar he took 3 month rotations in charge of the artillery located on top T.V. Mountain in Kabul against the opposition offensive toward Kabul. Units under his command were also involved in the Afshar Operation according to a Human Rights Watch report. The same report also stated that he commanded a brigade into Afshar during the assault.

Shura-e Nazar

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Afghanistan conflict (1978–present) Ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan since 1978

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References

  1. 1 2 Detainees not given access to witnesses: But in one case, 3 quickly found, Boston Globe , June 18, 2006
  2. ↑ "El caudillo Gul Haidar, un señor de guerra en busca de paz". Interviu. 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  3. 1 2 "Casting Shadows: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity: 1978-2001" (PDF). Afghanistan Justice Project. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  4. ↑ Davies, Will & Shariat, Abdullah(2004); Fighting Masoud's war; Lothian books ISBN   0-7344-0590-1, p.168
  5. ↑ Bombardieri, Marcella; Bender, Bryan (2002-03-13). "Americans advance on Afghan front". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  6. ↑ Kaul, Chris (2002-03-13). "Americans advance on Afghan front". The Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  7. ↑ Ayestaran, Mikel (2009-08-28). "¿Quiere usted terminar con Al Qaeda?". ABC. Archived from the original on 2009-12-28. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  8. ↑ Gannon, Kathy (2006). "Are Kabul's poor better off?". The Associated Press . Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  9. ↑ Guardian finds Afghan witnesses US couldn't, The Guardian , June 30, 2006
  10. ↑ Found: The 'unfindable' men Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine , Mail and Guardian , July 1, 2006
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