During a recent raid in the southeastern province of Ghazni, Coalition and Afghan security forces captured two terrorist facilitators, one of whom also worked for the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The combined special operations force captured the two Haqqani Network commanders during a raid two days ago in Ghazni City, the provincial capital. According to the International Security Assistance Force press release , one of the facilitators “worked for both Haqqani and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leaders” in the Orgun district in Paktika province, and he aided “Uzbek foreign fighters to support Haqqani attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
The other Haqqani Network facilitator “provided safe havens for foreign fighters traveling from Kunduz to Paktika province and Pakistan for tactical training and operations.” ISAF uses the term “foreign fighters” to describe members of al Qaeda and allied terror groups.
The Haqqani Network is the dangerous al Qaeda-linked Taliban subgroup that operates in eastern Afghanistan and in Pakistan. The Haqqani Network runs the Taliban’s shadow governments in Paktika, Paktia, and Khost provinces, and operates in several other provinces, including Ghazni, Zabul, Logar, Wardak, Kabul, and Kunduz. The shadow governments organize and direct attacks against Afghan and ISAF forces, raise funds for the Taliban’s operations, and administer the Taliban’s local government. Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the network, is a member of al Qaeda’s executive ruling council and has been designated as a terrorist by the US government.
The IMU integrating its operations not only with the Taliban in the north, but with the Haqqani Network in the Afghan east. On April 12, ISAF targeted a facilitator who works for both the Haqqani Network and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and aids “foreign fighters, including Iranians” to carry out attacks in the east. That raid also took place in the Orgun district of Paktika province.
Ghazni is a key hub for al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in the southeast
A senior US intelligence official involved in the hunt for al Qaeda and allied terror groups in Afghanistan told The Long War Journal that Ghazni is a key hub for al Qaeda activity in the southeast.
“Ghazni has long been a collection and distribution point for foreign jihadists due to it’s geographic proximity to key points,” the official said. “In general terms, what we’re seeing is facilitators bringing in fresh souls for jihad. They get them to places like Ghazni and await coordination to get them on to field commanders.”
The official noted that the Ring Road, the main artery that runs through Afghanistan and serves as a primary supply route for ISAF and Afghan forces, is a primary target of attacks.
Al Qaeda and allied terror groups maintain a strong presence in Ghazni province. The presence of al Qaeda cells has been detected in the districts of Andar, Gelan, Ghazni, Shah Joy, and Waghaz, or four of the province’s 16 districts, according to an investigation by The Long War Journal.
US forces are known to have captured two al Qaeda operatives in Ghazni since 2008. The most prominent al Qaeda operative captured in Ghazni is Aafia Siddiqui, an American-educated Pakistani scientist who has been dubbed “Lady al Qaeda” by the press. Aafia was detained in Ghazni City on July 17, 2008, and attempted to kill US US military officers and FBI agents during her interrogation the next day. According to US prosecutors, Aafia had “various documents, various chemicals, and a computer thumb drive, among other things” in her possession when she was arrested. Handwritten notes she was carrying referred to a “mass casualty attack” and listed “various locations in the United States, including Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge.” She is currently serving a 86-year-long prison sentence for attempting to kill US officials.
Another al Qaeda operative was captured in Ghazni City during a special operations raid on Nov. 18, 2009. An unnamed “al Qaeda IED facilitator” who served in al Qaeda’s Shadow Army, or Lashkar al Zil, was among several terrorists detained during the raid.
The Andar district in Ghazni is a known Taliban and al Qaeda hub in the southeast. Since October 2008, the US military has conducted seven raids against al Qaeda cells in Andar, according to press reports compiled by The Long War Journal. Senior Taliban and al Qaeda foreign fighter facilitators are known to operate in the district.
A US military commander operating in the southeastern Afghan province of Ghazni said that “foreign trainers” are working with the Taliban in the district of Andar, while Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate is seen as sabotaging efforts in the province.
“We also have seen some indications that there have been foreign trainers that have come to train the local Taliban who are fighting here in Andar,” Lieutenant Colonel David Fivecoat, commander of 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, told TOLOnews in January. The report stated that the “foreign trainers” are “Arabs, Chechens, and Pakistanis.”
Andar is the second district in Ghazni to have been identified by the US military as a location where Pakistani, Chechen, and Arab fighters are operating. In July 2010, the International Security Assistance Force targeted a Taliban commander “who is responsible for smuggling Pakistani, Chechen and Arab fighters and improvised explosive device materials into Shah Joy District from Pakistan.”
Al Qaeda claims it carries out operations in Ghazni
Al Qaeda and the Movement of the Taliban, an al Qaeda ally across the border, have also identified Ghazni as a province where the terror groups carry out operations. In February 2009, al Qaeda released the 13th edition of Vanguards of Khorasan, a magazine produced by al Qaeda in Afghanistan. In that magazine, the terror group published “Field Reports” that included information on attacks in Ghazni, as well as in the provinces of Baghlan, Badkhashan, Farah, Jawzjan, Kabul, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Nimroz, Paktika, Wardak, and Zabul.
And in an interview with As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, released in January 2010, Waliur Rahman Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the tribal agency of South Waziristan, said his fighters are conducting attacks in Ghazni and other Afghan provinces.
“Praise be to God, our comrades, whether they were suicide bombers or other fighters, have been fighting on various fronts in Afghanistan: Helmand, Zabul, Kandahar, Ghazni, Khost, all districts of Khost, Paktia and Paktika,” he told As Sahab.
