Amin Wardak (born in 1951) was a major Afghan mujahideen leader who mostly fought in his region of Wardak Province during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 80's. However, his field of military action had spread till the provinces of Ghazni and Kabul and his political influence and relations toward the other mujahideen groups had spread even further.[1] He was educated at the Lycée Esteqlal in Kabul, before taking his B.A. in documentation française at Kabul University.[2][3]
With the assistance of French NGOs, Amin Wardak developed his own administration in areas which he controlled, which he called the "Free province of Wardak". He established clinics and schools, instituted agricultural policies, and even printed his own postage stamps. His influence grew rapidly and extended up to the city of Ghazni.[4]
His father was a follower of Pir Ahmed Gailani, and Amin naturally joined Gailani's Mahaz-e Melli faction. A particularly active commander, he attacked Soviet and government targets as far as Ghazni and Kabul, far from the traditional territory of his clan. This caused tensions with the traditional leaders of other clans of the Wardak tribe. These other clans appealled to Pir Gailani to intervene on their behalf. The Pir pressed Amin Wardak to stop his long-range operations and diminished his weapons deliveries. As a result Amin switched to Hezb-e Islami Khalis in 1987, or early 1988, as Khalis was more willing to supply him with weapons.[2] In his memoirs[5], Amin Wardak explains that his switch to Khalis' faction didn't bring any improvement in supplying weapons. To him, these factions or political groups were simply basic logisticians for real field actors. He blames them for not have being sufficiently focused on the war against the Soviets and the needs of the populations, instead, they have been more worried about their own power gaining and their political aims. Amin Wardak writes that in his case, almost all of its armament stock were taken from the enemy during combat. He admits that he received a very small support from Afghan political parties, but he could afford it because he had developped a strong position in populations and very good links with western humanitarians. Beside, as a Pashtun leader, Amin Wardak always supported reliable and respectful relations with all minorities within the country.
French adventurer Patrice Franceschi fought alongside Amin Wardak and his mujahideen.[6] He was also supported by humanitarian activist (and later French foreign minister) Bernard Kouchner.[7]
In the late 80's, when the Soviet withdrawal became inevitable, Amin Wardak was at the initiative of what was called the Council of Commanders. He has been strongly supported in this purpose by his close friend Commander Abdul Haq. Namely, significant mujahideen leaders took part in this process, as Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Hazara leader Sayid Jaglan, Qari Baba, Ahmad Shah Massoud, and so on till 300 major Commanders. The purpose of this council was to unify all Commanders in order to coordinate attacks on the communist regime and to plan the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the fall of communist regime. This quest has been sabotaged by the Afghan political parties who saw a loss of their influence in it. In his memoirs, Amin Wardak states that Massoud has certainly played the most ambiguous role during his late and hesitant participation in this unification process.
In 1995, Amin Wardak had to flee Afghanistan because he was under serious threat due to its very critical position against the mujahideen who took part in the civil war between 1992-1996. This war also gave birth to the Taliban movement, whom then received broad popular support in their first years. Since, Amin Wardak lived in exile in France, but continues to return home often.[8] However, he never turned his back to his homeland and is still focussed on alternatives to the Afghan quagmire.
One point should be emphasized, Amin Wardak is one of those rare former leading commanders who has never been involved in any ethnical or religious war. He remains extremely critical against the majors actors of the Afghan civil war, in particular, those who henceforth hold office in the Afghan government.
Thus, in 2009, the French publishing house Arthaud of Flammarion Group published Amin Wardak's War Memoirs, in which the author shares with his reader a broad part of his personal life. He first begins with his childhood memories, and then, he embarks in amazing and rewarding testimonies. [9] It is a great journey into a sublime and rough Afghanistan, accompagnied by the spirit of an Afghan in all its glory and all its caricature, intransigent on its values and willing to sacrifice his life for the honor of his people. The book also contains beautiful photos that extend support the testimonies.