Afghan policemen defect to Taliban in Farah province

[Patriot]

An Afghan police commander and 13 junior officers have joined the Taliban in the western Afghan province of Farah, in what correspondents say could be the biggest defection by police.

They say the commander, named as Mirwais, was in charge of a 20-man checkpoint when he defected on Sunday.

The men are said to have taken heavy weaponry, radios and police vehicles including US-made armoured Humvees.

Farah is one of the most insecure areas in the relatively peaceful west.

The commander was based in Shewan village in the district of Bala Bulak, which was until recently considered a Taliban stronghold.

The insurgents were driven out of the area following a series of operations carried out by Afghan security forces. But local officials say insurgents have regrouped in the area recently.
Rarely reported

Police and intelligence officials deployed in the province said the commander poisoned seven policemen in his charge who had refused to defect along with him.

"Mirwais and his policemen had joined the force nearly two and half years ago. Mirwais had fought the insurgents in this area for quite some time," an Afghan intelligence official in the region told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul.

"Long before he defected, he must have been passing intelligence and crucial information to the insurgents," the official said.

Officials said that the equipment taken by the defectors - rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns, radios and police vehicles, including two Humvees - will be a major boost to the Taliban in the area.

Our correspondent says this is believed to be the biggest police defection to the insurgents. Over the past few years similar incidents have taken place on a much smaller scale in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan and in Ghor, Farah, Badghis and Herat in the west.

Such incidents have rarely been reported in the Afghan media, our correspondent says.

Once relatively peaceful, Farah has seen increasing levels of violence. The Taliban and other insurgent groups are active in many districts, particularly those close to the provincial capital, which has witnessed recent attacks.

The province has a strategic position, bordering Iran, and the key Kandahar-Herat highway passes through Farah.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18965123

 

[Juice]

Lol...they took Humvees? They are in for some fun...do they seriously not know what GPS is?

 

[Alienoz_TR]

Lol...they took Humvees? They are in for some fun...do they seriously not know what GPS is?

You think USA gonna make a military operation to take back 2 precious humvees?

 

[Juice]

You think USA gonna make a military operation to take back 2 precious humvees?

Lol, no...just track their movements, map out where they go...get a good picture of who is doing what....drones.

 

[IZVINITE]

The Taliban probably pay better.

 

[Sher Malang]

Taliban even don't have funds to ride pickups and he gifted them 2 humvees just like the last group of Afghan local police they will be captured soon because they aren't like Taliban who hided their faces from local people their identities are well known to every one in that province and yeah for the sake of topic this is nothing compared to 5.000+ Taliban who joined the government during last 1.5 years with all their intels, AKs, PKs, DshKs, motorcycles, radios and ammunition!

May Allah grant jannah to all those 7 brave policemen who resisted his offer and were poisoned by him!

 

[Cherokee]

Taliban even don't have funds to ride pickups and he gifted them 2 humvees just like the last group of Afghan local police they will be captured soon because they aren't like Taliban who hided their faces from local people their identities are well known to every one in that province and yeah for the sake of topic this is nothing compared to 5.000+ Taliban who joined the government during last 1.5 years!

My Allah grant jannah to all those 7 brave policemen who resisted his offer and were poisoned by him!

1 good habit i have seen of Sher Malang is he rarely post in topics that DOES NOT involve Afghanistan . Moreover In Afghanistan related topics also he posts sensibly . One of the better members here

 

[Sher Malang]

1 good habit i have seen of Sher Malang is he rarely post in topics that DOES NOT involve Afghanistan . Moreover In Afghanistan related topics also he posts sensibly . One of the better members here

And yet they tag me as pro-Indian, Indian sponsored agent etc..

Well I have all good information about my country and people the rest I know is for my general knowledge and I restrict myself to what is up for/against Afghanistan even I don't encounter people with posts and threads that could harm a whole of a nation just because he is bashing my country and yet they forget that there is a lot to encounter such 'people'.

And thanks for your compliment trolla!

 

[babajees]

40 police including Commander Mirwaise surrender in Bala Bolak district FARAH, Jul. 23 – Recent reports arriving from Bala Bolak district of Farah province state that 40 local police and their Commander (Mirwaise) surrendered themselves to Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate today after realizing the realities due to the efforts of Recruitment Commission of Islamic Emirate. The said group which was warmly welcomed by Mujahideen also gave up their heavy and light arms as well as 2 vehicles, 1 tank and huge amount of ammunition. This comes on the heels of a similar incident in Herat province in which 120 local police and their commander (Sayed Wali) surrendered themselves and huge amounts of arms, ammo and other equipment five days earlier in Chist district.

From Afghan Taliban sources. This is before the BBC report. The Afghan official media doesn't report anything. I have found the Talibans to be the most authentic :p sorry sher malang, truth hurts

 

[babajees]

Double post, self delete

 

[Zarvan]

Taliban even don't have funds to ride pickups and he gifted them 2 humvees just like the last group of Afghan local police they will be captured soon because they aren't like Taliban who hided their faces from local people their identities are well known to every one in that province and yeah for the sake of topic this is nothing compared to 5.000+ Taliban who joined the government during last 1.5 years with all their intels, AKs, PKs, DshKs, motorcycles, radios and ammunition!

May Allah grant jannah to all those 7 brave policemen who resisted his offer and were poisoned by him!

Yes still the manage to kill many Americans on daily bases attack their bases use computers and images to plan attacks fill a huge truck with explosives and using modern Army tactics to attack their and enemies

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A police commander and 13 junior officers in western Afghanistan have joined the Taliban in a move that is new and troubling for the struggling nation as international forces prepare to depart.
The commander, known only as Mirwais, had been with the Afghan National Police for a year and was in charge of two police stations and 20 officers in the Bala Boluk district of western Farah province, bordering Iran, said Abdul Rahman Zhewandai, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
He said the seven officers who refused to defect with Mirwais were found poisoned but they all survived.
Why women face challenges in Afghanistan Report: Afghanistan war mishandled Bombers kill dozens in Afghanistan
Mirwais absconded with two police vehicles and 20 light and heavy machine guns -- including AK-47 rifles -- and rocket-propelled grenades, Zhewandai said.
Read more: Afghanistan Crossroads
Farah province is one of the most insecure areas of western Afghanistan, which is relatively calm compared to other regions. Zhewandai said the police defections were a first.
Mirwais belonged to the Taliban when the militants controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, when a U.S. invasion ousted them from power, Zhewandai said.
The defection comes at a time when the United States and its NATO allies are trying to prop up Afghan forces to take over the nation's security.
There have been several incidents of Afghans turning their guns on their international counterparts, including one Sunday when an Afghan policeman opened fire at a training center in western Afghanistan. Three Americans, most likely trainers at the West Zone Police Training Center in Herat province, were killed, along with the shooter.
Violence has also been on an uptick in strategically located Farah province, where the Taliban has been active.
In May, suicide attackers with explosives stormed the governor's compound, killing themselves and seven people.
In April, a Taliban attack in the province killed eight policemen.

 

[eik_pagall]

Lol, no...just track their movements, map out where they go...get a good picture of who is doing what....drones.

Now a days even a car thief knows everything bout GPS and trackers.
Do you think they don't have brains?

 

[Oldman1]

AFP: More than 1,700 Taliban give up their arms

WASHINGTON — More than 1,700 former Taliban combatants have turned in their weapons to join a reintegration program started by the Afghan government nearly a year ago, the NATO general in charge of the program said Thursday.

"So far we've got about 1,740 former fighters who have formally joined the reintegration process," said British Major General Phil Johns, the director of the Force Reintegration Cell of the International Security Assistance Force.

"On top of this, the High Peace Council has at least another 40 to 45 groups in negotiations across the country," said Johns, referring to the Afghan agency in charge of political reconciliation.

"That may be as much as 2,000 fighters," added Johns, who was talking to reporters in Washington via teleconference from Kabul.

The peace process provides amnesty to former Taliban members who agree to renounce violence, sever ties with terrorist groups, and live under the Afghan constitution, said Johns.

The Afghan insurrection is composed mostly of Taliban fighters and members of the Haqqani network, which total around 25,000 men, he said.

Most of the time, a Taliban chief, accompanied by several men or sometimes several dozen men, decide to give up fighting, he said.

"These are life-changing decisions that people are making, and it is all built on trust and confidence," said Johns.

The program is financed with $141 million from the international community, of which $58 million comes from the US. Washington expects to spend some $12.8 billion in 2012 to help build the Afghan army.

Besides formal reintegration through the government-sanctioned process, Johns estimated that a number of other Taliban had put down their arms and returned to live in their villages without going through official channels.

In southwest Helmand province, in particular, the idea of surrender is associated with the formal reintegration process, which has led many former combatants to avoid the government-sponsored process.

"In Helmand, there's still a sense among some of the fighters that this smacks too much of surrender," said Johns. "There's still this psychology playing out there.

"The predatory reach of Taliban based in Pakistan is still a concern for people in central Helmand. The security conditions are such that they're saying, 'I'm not sure I want to get public, I want to stop fighting but silently rather than formally,'" Johns added.

Asked whether the killing of Osama bin Laden had made any difference in the number of Taliban wishing to reintegrate, Johns said it was too early to know.

"The dust is settling on the death of OBL," he said. "There is a sense of opportunity that is arising, but whether people are going to capitalize on these opportunities is yet to be seen."

 

[Cloakedvessel]

Yes still the manage to kill many Americans on daily bases attack their bases use computers and images to plan attacks fill a huge truck with explosives and using modern Army tactics to attack their and enemies

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A police commander and 13 junior officers in western Afghanistan have joined the Taliban in a move that is new and troubling for the struggling nation as international forces prepare to depart.
The commander, known only as Mirwais, had been with the Afghan National Police for a year and was in charge of two police stations and 20 officers in the Bala Boluk district of western Farah province, bordering Iran, said Abdul Rahman Zhewandai, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
He said the seven officers who refused to defect with Mirwais were found poisoned but they all survived.
Why women face challenges in Afghanistan Report: Afghanistan war mishandled Bombers kill dozens in Afghanistan
Mirwais absconded with two police vehicles and 20 light and heavy machine guns -- including AK-47 rifles -- and rocket-propelled grenades, Zhewandai said.
Read more: Afghanistan Crossroads
Farah province is one of the most insecure areas of western Afghanistan, which is relatively calm compared to other regions. Zhewandai said the police defections were a first.
Mirwais belonged to the Taliban when the militants controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, when a U.S. invasion ousted them from power, Zhewandai said.
The defection comes at a time when the United States and its NATO allies are trying to prop up Afghan forces to take over the nation's security.
There have been several incidents of Afghans turning their guns on their international counterparts, including one Sunday when an Afghan policeman opened fire at a training center in western Afghanistan. Three Americans, most likely trainers at the West Zone Police Training Center in Herat province, were killed, along with the shooter.
Violence has also been on an uptick in strategically located Farah province, where the Taliban has been active.
In May, suicide attackers with explosives stormed the governor's compound, killing themselves and seven people.
In April, a Taliban attack in the province killed eight policemen.

He Zarvan, look at this:

Afghans aim to defuse failed suicide bombers with Koran

KABUL (Reuters) - In a room full of would-be suicide bombers at a high security detention centre in the Afghan capital, an elderly cleric quietly reads out verses from the Koran, telling the young men the act of killing oneself is itself a crime in Islam.

"You won't go to paradise. Killing yourself and killing others is forbidden in Islam," he tells the men sitting on chairs arranged in rows in the brightly lit room, and points to pages in the holy book.
Some of them nod, others stare vacantly.

Afghanistan's National Directorate Security, long reviled for abuse and torture of detainees, says it is trying to draw the poison out of the young minds by teaching them the Koran, taking the men to mosques in Kabul to show people praying peacefully and proving their instigators were wrong.

Suicide attacks, unknown in Afghanistan until 2004, have become particularly worrying as newly minted government forces take control of security ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops in 2014. They account for the highest number of deaths of civilians and military forces after roadside bombings.
The attacks have prompted authorities to fortify government buildings and foreign offices with rows upon rows of blast walls to stop the bombers.

They are also trying to fight the brainwashing.

"We work with them psychologically, we show them movies and films of atrocities of the Taliban and we also take them to mosques to see thousands of worshippers," said Lutfullah Mashal, chief spokesman of the NDS, which last week gave Reuters rare access to the prisoners under supervision.

"During our interviews with them, we found that most of them do not know what they are doing. They are told false stories about Afghanistan."

Most of the men in the room, some with just the beginnings of a moustache, were Afghans but they had spent their lives in Pakistan. Several million Afghans have moved to Pakistan over decades of Afghan turmoil.

Some of the bombers said they been sent across to Afghanistan after being told Islam was in danger because of the foreign military presence and that women were being raped.

"As a Muslim I wanted to do my part and I agreed to do the mission," said Abdul Wahab. He said he made four unsuccessful attempts to detonate his explosive-laden car on foreign military convoys in northern Afghanistan before he was caught last month.

PROMISE OF PARADISE

Wahab, 18, originally from Kunduz in the Afghan north, but who grew up in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi where he worked as a porter in a fruit market, said he was approached by a man identified as Sarfraz several months ago.

"I was told stories about Afghanistan, about atrocities by foreigners and the absence of Islamic practices," Wahab said as two NDS agents sat nearby. He was given 15 days of training at a camp for Afghan refugees near the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on how to set off a car bomb.

"I was sent to Mazar-e-Sharif to target the foreigners and despite attempting four times, my car did not explode," he said, speaking slowly in Pashto.

Afghanistan says thousands of Islamic fighters routinely cross over from Pakistan's lawless, ethnic Pashtun tribal lands to carry out acts of violence. It has repeatedly urged its neighbor to act against the militants.

Pakistan says it is doing all it can to fight militancy in its rugged northwestern border region and that Afghanistan is shifting the blame for its inability to tackle chronic instability at home.

Last week, at least 20 Afghan civilians were killed when a pair of suicide bombers detonated explosives within minutes of each other in a crowded part of the southern city of Kandahar, in one of the bloodiest days in weeks.

On Saturday, four French soldiers were killed when a burqa-clad bomber detonated his explosives in a bazaar in the east.

Some of the boys recruited to carry out bombings were told no harm would come to them.
Zahedullah, 17, from eastern Kunar province said he fell in with Taliban fighters at a mosque and they pumped him up to become a suicide bomber to attack foreigners.

"The Taliban told me I won't be harmed, only the Americans would be killed and I would go to paradise," he said.

"I don't want to go to paradise, I want to go home," he said.

Not everyone has had a change of heart. Ahmad Zubair, 18, was caught two weeks ago with a suicide-bomb vest in the eastern city of Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border, where he planned to attack U.S. soldiers.

"I wanted to blow them up. They have desecrated our holy book and made cartoons of our Prophet. As long as Americans are in Afghanistan, there will be suicide bombers," he said quietly, before the NDS agents led him away.

Afghans aim to defuse failed suicide bombers with Koran | Reuters

 

[Developereo]

Afghan guards defect after Aust dispute

Twenty Afghan guards for the NATO-led Australian forces have defected to the Taliban in southern Afghanistan after a dispute with the soldiers, local police say.

"The Australian soldiers beat the Afghan guards after some verbal disputes in a military camp in Charchino district of Oruzgan province," district police chief Wali Dad said on Wednesday.

The angry guards set the security towers on fire and defected to the Taliban, taking weapons and ammunition, he said.

The defection occurred two days after a police chief and 12 of his men took weapons and joined the Taliban in western Farah province.