Abdul Rauf (Taliban governor)

Abdul Rauf Aliza
Died February 9, 2015(2015-02-09)
Nationality Afghanistan
Other names Hajji Mullah Maulvi Abdul Rauf Khadim
Occupation Military Commander/Politician
Known for Taliban Governor

Abdul Rauf Aliza also known as Hajji Mullah Maulvi Abdul Rauf Khadim was an Afghan military commander, who having been a commander with the then ruling Taliban, in late 2014 pledged allegiance to Islamic State.[1]

Having become a foot soldier for several known Taliban commanders, he eventually became a member of Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s elite mobile reserve force before the attacks on September 11, 2001. From 2003 onwards Rauf served as a Taliban spokesman,[2][3] and was the Taliban's last Governor of Konar Province.[4]

Subsequently captured by US Army forces in Helmand province, he was sent to Guantanamo Bay for detention and interview. Held there as detainee 108, he was assessed according to documents later released by Wikileaks by US officials as:[1]

“ Cooperative, but his responses were vague or inconsistent when asked about the Taliban leadership. Detainee was in a position to have extensive knowledge of the opium trade in Afghanistan and could identify the individuals in the criminal organizations that were working with both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in the opium trade. ”

Assessed not to be a threat, Rauf was recommended for transfer out and continued detainment in another country, and hence transferred back to Afghanistan in 2007. There he rejoined the Taliban in Helmand province, and built up a fighting force in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar province.[1] He subsequently became a Taliban politician.[5]

Some time after the withdrawal of Coalition troops from Helmand province in October 2014, Rauf pledged allegiance to Islamic State, and began recruiting in southern Afghanistan. In January 2015 local Taliban commanders and tribal elders advised locals not to engage with Rauf or his deputies.[1] Rauf was then named as deputy leader of IS in "Khorasan" - an old name for Afghanistan - by the ISIS organisation in Syria.[6]

On 9 February 2015 a US Air Force drone attacked a car allegedly carrying Abdul Rauf Aliza and five others, in the desert of Helmand Province, destroying the vehicle and the ammunition that it was carrying back from northern Pakistan.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dan Lamothe (2015-01-13). "Meet the shadowy figure recruiting for the Islamic State in Afghanistan". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Rauf is also known as Abdul Rauf Aliza and Maulvi Abdul Rauf Khadim. According to a military document released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, he turns 34 in February and was listed as detainee 108 at Guantanamo Bay. He was transferred to Afghanistan’s control in 2007.
  2. ↑ "US jets pound Taliban position". Indian Express. 2003-07-23. Archived from the original on 2010-03-05. Speaking by telephone, Taliban official Mullah Abdul Rauf claimed at least 20 government soldiers had been killed in the fighting, which involved 200 guerrillas. Achakzai said the clash involved Taliban fighters led by former minister Mullah Abdul Razzaq, commander Hafiz Abdur Rahim and Rauf, a former governor. He said the guerrillas came from the Pakistani side of the border.
  3. ↑ "Taliban form 'resistance force'". CNN. 2003-06-24. Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. Speaking to Reuters, Mullah Abdul Rauf, a provincial governor in the former Taliban regime, said the new council was formed after five days of talks held at an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan. "The Shura was formed to expedite jihad (holy war) against occupation forces and strengthen the Taliban movement," he was quoted as saying.
  4. ↑ Carlotta Gall (2006-10-03). "After Afghan Battle, a Harder Fight for Peace". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. One of the Taliban leaders, Hajji Mullah Abdul Rauf, a former provincial governor, taunted the American military in an interview with Al Jazeera television in the Panjwai area in late August. “Where has the American power gone?” he said. “Why could they not capture the Taliban and mujahedeen in their caves? It is Afghans who are helping us,” he said. “They give food, they give help and they have come out against this government. They do not want this government.”
  5. ↑ Esther Schrader, Rona Tempest (2001-10-29). "U.S. Warplanes Pound Taliban Troops, Rumsfeld Says". The Spectrum, University of Buffalo. Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. On Sunday, a delegation of 10 men from the forces massed at Lagharay, Pakistan, six miles from the Afghan border in the Bajaur tribal area, traveled into neighboring Konar province to meet with Taliban Gov. Maulvi Abdul Rauf.
  6. 1 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31290147
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