Ismail Khan
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Ismail Khan (b. 1946) was a Mujahedin commander, later the governor of Herat province in Afghanistan and is now the Minister of Energy for Afghanistan. He has been involved with the political organization Jamiat-e-Islami a moderate islamic group.
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[edit] Resistance in the Soviet Era
In March 1979 Khan was a captain in the Afghanistan army based in the western city of Herat. Influenced by the wave of Islamic fundamentalism sweeping in from neighbouring Iran in the wake of Khomeini's 1978 Islamic Revolution, Khan led the Herat garrison in a revolt against Russian political advisors based in Herat. As the Afghan communist government led by Nur Mohammed Taraki responded, pulverizing the city using Russian supplied bombers and killing over 20,000 citizens, Khan escaped to the countryside where he started to assemble a rebel army, which was widely supported by population of Herat. [1] This event marked the opening salvo of the rebellion which led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, and ultimately, after a bloody 10 year war to the complete Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. In 1992 Khan's forces took back Herat, and he became governor of Herat.
[edit] Resistance in the Taliban Era
After becoming governor of Herat the first time, he was forced to flee to Iran after the Taliban took over authority in 1996. Only 70 taliban were around the hari-rud area when Ismail Khan and his top officials escaped to Iran while carrying woven sacks full of money. Two years later, while organising opposition to the Taliban, he was handed over to the Taliban by old adversaries. Then in March 2000 he escaped and worked as a member of the Afghan Northern Alliance.
[edit] Post-Taliban Era
During the Afghan Transitional Administration, Khan was military commander of western Afghanistan, until August 13, 2003 when President Hamid Karzai decreed that officials could no longer hold both military and civil posts. Ismail Khan has a standing paid army of 30,000 strong. While Kabul was and is still struggling, Ismael Khan achieved wonders in terms of reconstruction with the city of Herat. Though these reports are very exagerated by Ismail Khan's men. Many Afghan intellectuals agree that most of the money which he used to rebuild very little came from Herat's custom revenues. He brought about security (Though he himself and his mujahedeen robbed and violated many human rights), built numerous schools (but named them after himself and other radical islamists) and provided opportunities for small businesses to flourish (though mainly to his own followers). Because of these achievements, he is well loved by the less educated people of Herat, which was his original aim. In September 2004 he was also removed from the post of governor for Herat province; although Khan was offered the post of minister of mines and industry in the central government, he declined. He however did accept a post as the minister of Energy in Kabul though he has very minimal education in any field other than Islamism.
[edit] Controversies surrounding Political Activities
Khan has been described as "shrewd, short, and with an elfin smile." His human rights record as governor is said to be very dark when compared to other governors. After the airing in January 2004 on television of women singing, Khan sided with the Afghan Supreme Court opinion that such broadcasts should be banned. He also arrested and took a group of youth around the city after beating them, shaving their heads, and colouring their faces black for drinking after his return to power in 2001.
On March 21, 2004, an assassination attempt against Khan, allegedly ordered by General Abdul Zaher Nayebzadah, was reported to have failed. Shortly thereafter, Mirwais Sadeq — Khan's son and Afghanistan's civil aviation minister — was killed by Nayebzadah's forces after he repeatedly ignored warnings to not trespass private property during a state of crisis in Herat. Severe fighting broke out between the two factions in Herat. A few people have claimed that Mirwais was killed due to an affair he was having. After hours of fighting in which about 100 people were reported killed, Khan's forces claimed to be once again in control of the city.
Ismail Khan vowed to "shave his beard" if any of the 11 candidates he nominated did not become MPs. They all did thanks to his paid army of 30,000 and their large families.
Ismail Khan has committed numerous war crimes, and has had citizens of Herat beaten for ransom. He also stole all the revenue in Herat through his reign. He is known to have had numerous journalists attacked for asking controversial questions. In particular was a foreign journalist who shed light on the fact that Mirwais had been arrested for adultery in Iran and had earned close to nothing in terms of education during his stay in France which lasted for a few years aimed at his education.
Almost all Afghan intellectuals who can speak freely would like Ismail Khan to be put on trial for his war crimes, attrocities against human rights, and attacks against journalists.
As a true mujahedeen leader against the Soviets, he is a role model to many young Afghan men and boys inside and outside Afghanistan. He is among the last of a very few well-intentioned, but less than perfect class of Afghan freedom fighters, some martyred from this class are Ahmad Shah Masoud, Abdul Haq.
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[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. pg 40. 2004, Penguin Books.
