Shahzada (Taliban commander)

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There are press reports that a Taliban field commander, named Mullah Shahzada, was held in extrajudicial detention in Guantanamo, and was released, only to return to the battlefield.^[1][2][3]

Contents 1 Accounts of Mullah Shahzada 1.1 2001 1.2 2003 1.3 2004 1.4 2005 2 References

[edit] Accounts of Mullah Shahzada

[edit] 2001

A report from March 21, 2001, listed a Mullah Shahzada as a member of the Taliban delegation charged with responsibility over the destruction of statues.^[4]

[edit] 2003

The New York Times reported on an interview with a "former fighter" named Mullah Shahzada, in Quetta, Pakistan.^[5] "It is too difficult studying in Afghanistan, because all the time people demand, `Who are you and what are you doing?' " said Mullah Shahzada, a religious teacher and former fighter from the southern province of Helmand.

The New York Times article does not say that Shahzada was a member of the Taliban.

[edit] 2004

The New York Times reported:^[6]

"New accounts from officials in Afghanistan and the United States indicate that at least 5 of the 57 Afghan detainees released have returned to the battlefield as Taliban commanders or fighters. Some of the five have been involved in new attacks on Americans, officials in southern Afghanistan said, including a notorious Taliban commander, Mullah Shahzada, who was reportedly killed in a recent accident."

[edit] 2005

Oliver North claimed that Mullah Shahzada was one of the three youngest children at Guantanamo, who were given more humane treatment, including schooling, at Camp Iguana, apparently unaware that "mullah" is an honorific, meaning "educated man".^[7] The identity of the three children had already been published, Naqibullah, Asadullah Abdul Rahman, and Muhammad Ismail Agha. North claimed Mullah Shahzada swore to abstain form violence, but was killed in a firefight weeks after his release.

The People's Daily reports that a Mullah Shahzada was injured during a firefight in October 2005.^[8]

[edit] References

1. ^ Tim McGirk, Rahimullah Yusufza, After Gitmo, A Talib Takes Revenge, Time (magazine), June 7, 2004
2. ^ Shaun Waterman, Freed Gitmo detainees back in rebel ranks, officials say, Washington Times, June 7, 2004
3. ^ John Mintz, Released Detainees Rejoining The Fight, Washington Post, October 22, 2004
4. ^ Kyrgyzstan daily digest, Eurasia.net, March 21, 2001
5. ^ Carlotta Gall, In Pakistan Border Towns, Taliban Has a Resurgence, New York Times, May 6, 2003 - - mirror
6. ^ Tim Golden, Don van Natta jr., U.S. Said to Overstate Value of Guantánamo Detainees, New York Times, June 21, 2004 - - mirror
7. ^ Oliver North, Unilateral self-flagellation, Town hall, June 10, 2005
8. ^ Clash leaves 9 police dead in South Afghanistan, People's Daily, October 22, 2005