KANDAHAR, 20 February 2004 — Hundreds of Taleban fighters have regrouped in the southern Zabul province, undermining the central government’s efforts to establish control in the months before crucial presidential elections, Afghan officials said yesterday.
The province is only about 100 km from the Taleban’s former power base in the southern city of Kandahar. Many Taleban are believed to have fled to the remote mountainous region bordering Pakistan after their ouster in a US-led offensive more than two years ago.
In recent months, officials in Zabul have appealed for help after experiencing a string of bomb blasts, attacks and kidnappings by the militants. Taleban fighters have also been blamed for attacks against foreign aid workers, security forces and construction workers in the area in recent months.
Villagers have reported spotting the Taleban fighters in the past several days in Mizan and Ataghar districts of Zabul, said Maulvi Muhammad Omar, the province’s deputy governor.
Some Taleban have also been spotted in Maruf district of neighboring Kandahar province, Omar said, speaking by satellite telephone from Qalat, Zabul’s capital, which is about 120 km northeast of Kandahar.
He said the Taleban fighters, who travel in small groups and have been spotted in the mountains, number more than 400. They have already struck at local supporters of the US-backed government of Hamid Karzai, kidnapping one, a village elder.
“We plan to send more troops to the districts to strengthen government forces there,” Omar said.
The head of the administration in Mizan district, Haji Muhammad Hashim, also said a “large number of Taleban have appeared in the mountains” of the district. He did not give an estimate on the number of the fighters.
“They tell people to fight against the government,” Hashim said. “They tell people that the government is made up of infidels.”
Spotted among the Taleban commanders leading the militia bands in Zabul was Mullah Qadir, a prominent fighter who had escaped from a high security prison in Kandahar in October last year, Omar said.
The lack of security outside of the Afghan capital, Kabul, has prompted concerns by international officials charged with preparing this troubled country for its first democratic election later this year.
The United States has been training a new Afghan National Army to secure the countryside and curb the warlords.
However, only a small number — 7,000 of the eventual target of 70,000 soldiers — have been deployed, far short of the number needed.
The US-led coalition still depends heavily on local militias as it pursues Taleban and Al-Qaeda guerrillas in the south and east.
