KABUL, 2 September 2003 — Afghan officials yesterday denied there were any negotiations taking place with the Taleban to end fighting in the troubled southeast province of Zabul where around 80 militants have been killed in the past week.
“I completely deny that,” presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said when asked about a report that officials were in talks with the Taleban. “There is absolutely no negotiations going on with anyone,” he said. Zabul officials also denied any talks were taking place.
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press earlier yesterday claimed that President Hamid Karzai’s government had started negotiations with Taleban officials in several parts of Zabul. The report came, however, as the US military announced the start of a fresh offensive against suspected Taleban militants holed up in the mountains of Zabul. Afghan forces, supported by US troops and aircraft, have been engaged for the past week in a major operation against suspected Taleban and Al-Qaeda bases in the mountains of Daychopan district of Zabul, 300 km southwest of Kabul.
“Today I announce the launch of a new operation — Operation Mountain Viper,” Col. Rodney Davis told reporters at the coalition’s Bagram Air Base headquarters north of Kabul. “The operation was initiated (Saturday) with an air assault in the mountains in the vicinity of Daychopan,” he said. Davis said the operation was continuing but would not provide details.
Afghan authorities believe up to 300 Taleban are regrouping in mountains in Zabul and neighboring Uruzgan, the birthplace of the Taleban’s fugitive spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Noor Rahman, spokesman for Zabul governor Hafizullah Hashim, said 85 people had been killed during a week of fighting, including 80 suspected Taleban and five government soldiers.
Col. Davis, however, said he could only confirm at least 37 militants had been killed, most in air attacks. Southeast Afghanistan has been hard-hit by an apparent resurgence of Taleban fighters. The 12,500-strong US-led coalition force is hunting remnants of the Taleban and its Al-Qaeda allies, mainly along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.
Defense Shakeup: President Karzai has approved plans to reform the Ministry of Defense and 22 new appointments are expected within the next two weeks, a presidential spokesman said yesterday. The United Nations has called for urgent reform of the Tajik-dominated ministry to make it more representative of Afghanistan’s ethnic mix.
Reform of the ministry will allow the launch of a delayed internationally-backed program to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate some 100,000 militiamen.
Defense Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim had been accused of packing the ministry with fellow Tajiks. Militiamen have been reluctant to hand over their weapons while the ministry is seen as dominated by a rival faction.
Some of the disarmed militiamen will be integrated into the new national army, which currently numbers around 6,000 against a forecast eventual strength of 70,000. Afghan officials and foreign observers have said it will be another three years before the army and new national police force can fully take charge of security in the country.
