Pacha Khan Zadran
Encyclopedia
Pacha Khan Zadran is a powerful militia leader and a politician in the southeast of Afghanistan
. He was an ex Soviet-fighter militia leader who played a role in driving the Taliban from Paktia Province
in the 2001 invasion, with American backing, and he subsequently assumed the governorship of the province. In 2002, he engaged in a violent conflict with rival tribal leaders in the province over the Governorship of the province, shelling Gardez City and obstructing two separate appointed governors sent by Hamid Karzai
.
in Bonn
Germany
which chose Hamid Karzai
as President of the Afghan Transitional Authority.
That month, Karzai appointed Zadran as governor of the Paktia Province
. However, locals from the capital of Gardez immediately began attacks against Zadran's troops, leading the warlord to appoint his son Abdul Wali, formerly an import-export manager of automobiles in Dubai
, as military commander of his 3,000 forces in the city. His younger son, Kamal, was already leading his father's troops in Khost
.
He was chased out of office two months later - and a new governor was appointed. Zadran vowed to retake the province, and his troops began launching rockets into the city to no avail.
Carlotta Gall
, writing in the New York Times, reported that a Zadran spokesman claimed US special forces
killed Pacha Khan's eldest son, and nine of his men.
.
, and a helicopter took them to Kabul
.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies
:
, his son Gul Zaman
, his brother Abib Sarajuddin
,and his neighbor Mohammad Gul
, were all captured on the night of January 21, 2002, early during the administration of Hamid Karzai
.
Sarajuddin had been anonymously denounced to American intelligence officials, who believed a claim that Sarajuddin had been the overnight host to a senior Taliban official, Jalaluddin Haqqani
, as he fled the Northern Alliance.
American military intelligence had authorized a retaliatory attack on Sarajuddin, destroying his house, and killing his wife and half a dozen family members.
The other three men were captured because they owned passports, or were related to Sarajuddin.
Sarajuddin's connection to Pacha Khan was that tribal elders had directed him to recruit fighters from his village, and four neighboring villages, to fight under Zadran, when the USA appealed to local leaders to overthrow the Taliban.
The four men's capture occurred when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a firm US ally. But, two and a half years later, when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a renegade, Sarajuddin's efforts to raise troops to serve under Pacha Khan Zadran, to overthrow the Taliban, was offered as a justification for classifying the four men as enemy combatants.
, in a 2003 report entitled: "Killing you is a very easy thing for us", quoted truck drivers who reported being robbed at roadblocks set up by Pacha Khan Zadran's men:
Tribal forces captured Pacha Khan Zadran in Pakistan
's Tribal Areas on December 1, 2003.
He was handed over to Afghanistan's officials at the Pakistan/Afghanistan border on February 3, 2004 in Nangarhar.
Officials said the capture occurred with their cooperaion because
his forces had been setting up roadblocks on the roads in Paktia, and robbing travelers.
The Seattle Times reports that American Special Forces referred to Pacha Khan Zadran as "PKZ".
They report that in 2002 and 2003 the American Green Berets
regarded PKZ as their main nemesis because they had been caught in the crossfire between Zadran and his local rivals.
The Seattle Times also reports that American Special Forces believed Pacha Khan was extorting payments from drivers on the Khost
-Gardez highway.
McNeill's intent was to get Zadran's men to stop setting up roadblocks. Their unauthorized roadblocks were interfering with the activities of US troops. But Zadran's rivals thought McNeill had come to personally arrest Zadran, and chose that moment to launch an impromptu sneak attack. Over fifty people were reported to have been killed.
attempts.
was forced to publish the names of the 645 captives held in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility
.
One of the individuals on the list was named "Pacha Khan".
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. He was an ex Soviet-fighter militia leader who played a role in driving the Taliban from Paktia Province
Paktia Province
Paktia , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez. The population is predominantly Pashtun.- History:...
in the 2001 invasion, with American backing, and he subsequently assumed the governorship of the province. In 2002, he engaged in a violent conflict with rival tribal leaders in the province over the Governorship of the province, shelling Gardez City and obstructing two separate appointed governors sent by Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
.
Governor of Paktia
Zadran was one of the anti-Taliban warlords who attended the December 2001 conferenceBonn Conference
After Operation Enduring Freedom in which the Taliban government was toppled in Afghanistan, in December 2001, the German city of Bonn hosted a conference of Afghan leaders at Hotel Petersberg, to choose the leader of an Afghan Interim Authority – widely known as the Bonn Conference.The...
in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
which chose Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
as President of the Afghan Transitional Authority.
That month, Karzai appointed Zadran as governor of the Paktia Province
Paktia Province
Paktia , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez. The population is predominantly Pashtun.- History:...
. However, locals from the capital of Gardez immediately began attacks against Zadran's troops, leading the warlord to appoint his son Abdul Wali, formerly an import-export manager of automobiles in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, as military commander of his 3,000 forces in the city. His younger son, Kamal, was already leading his father's troops in Khost
Khost
Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...
.
He was chased out of office two months later - and a new governor was appointed. Zadran vowed to retake the province, and his troops began launching rockets into the city to no avail.
Son killed by Americans
On 24 March 2003Carlotta Gall
Carlotta Gall
Carlotta Gall is a British journalist who covers Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan for The New York Times.Carlotta Gall is a daughter of the British journalist Sandy Gall and Eleanor Gall. She was educated in England and read Russian and French at Newnham College, Cambridge...
, writing in the New York Times, reported that a Zadran spokesman claimed US special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
killed Pacha Khan's eldest son, and nine of his men.
Siege of Khost
Angered that his assistance to American forces had not been rewarded, and his removal from Paktia, Zadran's forces quickly became a "renegade" force. In September 2002, they laid an unsuccessful siege to the city of KhostKhost
Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...
.
Arrested in Pakistan
Zadran was arrested by Pakistani security forces in November 2003. On February 3, 2004 he and his brother Amanullah were brought to the border of Afghanistan and handed over to Afghan troops. They were then driven to Jalalabad AirportJalalabad Airport
-External links:*...
, and a helicopter took them to Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
.
Elected to Afghanistan's legislature
In 2005, he was elected to the Afghanistan's legislature, the Wolesi Jirga.According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
:
Guantanamo connection
Four Guantanamo detainees Khan ZamanKhan Zaman
Khan Zaman is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 460....
, his son Gul Zaman
Gul Zaman
-Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant:Zaman was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants....
, his brother Abib Sarajuddin
Abib Sarajuddin
-Transcript:Sarajuddin chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal....
,and his neighbor Mohammad Gul
Mohammad Gul
Mohammad Gul is an Afghan who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 457....
, were all captured on the night of January 21, 2002, early during the administration of Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
.
Sarajuddin had been anonymously denounced to American intelligence officials, who believed a claim that Sarajuddin had been the overnight host to a senior Taliban official, Jalaluddin Haqqani
Jalaluddin Haqqani
Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. He also fought in the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, including in the Operation Magistral...
, as he fled the Northern Alliance.
American military intelligence had authorized a retaliatory attack on Sarajuddin, destroying his house, and killing his wife and half a dozen family members.
The other three men were captured because they owned passports, or were related to Sarajuddin.
Sarajuddin's connection to Pacha Khan was that tribal elders had directed him to recruit fighters from his village, and four neighboring villages, to fight under Zadran, when the USA appealed to local leaders to overthrow the Taliban.
The four men's capture occurred when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a firm US ally. But, two and a half years later, when Pacha Khan Zadran was considered a renegade, Sarajuddin's efforts to raise troops to serve under Pacha Khan Zadran, to overthrow the Taliban, was offered as a justification for classifying the four men as enemy combatants.
Reports of banditry
Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, in a 2003 report entitled: "Killing you is a very easy thing for us", quoted truck drivers who reported being robbed at roadblocks set up by Pacha Khan Zadran's men:
Tribal forces captured Pacha Khan Zadran in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's Tribal Areas on December 1, 2003.
He was handed over to Afghanistan's officials at the Pakistan/Afghanistan border on February 3, 2004 in Nangarhar.
Officials said the capture occurred with their cooperaion because
his forces had been setting up roadblocks on the roads in Paktia, and robbing travelers.
The Seattle Times reports that American Special Forces referred to Pacha Khan Zadran as "PKZ".
They report that in 2002 and 2003 the American Green Berets
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
regarded PKZ as their main nemesis because they had been caught in the crossfire between Zadran and his local rivals.
The Seattle Times also reports that American Special Forces believed Pacha Khan was extorting payments from drivers on the Khost
Khost
Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...
-Gardez highway.
September 2007 meeting with Dan McNeil, NATO commander
NATO commander American General Dan McNeill inadvertently triggered hostilities when he met with Zadran in early September 2007.McNeill's intent was to get Zadran's men to stop setting up roadblocks. Their unauthorized roadblocks were interfering with the activities of US troops. But Zadran's rivals thought McNeill had come to personally arrest Zadran, and chose that moment to launch an impromptu sneak attack. Over fifty people were reported to have been killed.
Assassination attempts
Pacha Khan Zadran has been reported to have been the subject of several assassinationAssassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempts.
| February 24, 2006 | A bomb placed on Pacha Khan Zadran's route failed to explode. |
| December 22, 2006 |
|
| October 13, 2007 | A suicide bomber is reported to have rammed his motoorcycle into Pacha Khan Zadran's car, killing six. |
Namesakes
On January 16, 2010, the Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
was forced to publish the names of the 645 captives held in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility
Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility , also called the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, is a United States-run prison located next to Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.It was formerly known as the Bagram Collection Point...
.
One of the individuals on the list was named "Pacha Khan".