Abdul Wahed Khan

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Abdul Wahid Khan
Other names
  • Rais Baghrani
  • Abdul Wahed
  • Abdul Wahid
  • Abdul Wahed Khan
  • Abdul Wahid Khan
  • Abdul Wahed Baghrani
  • Abdul Wahid Baghrani
  • Abdul Wahid Khan Baghrani
  • Abdul Wahed Khan Baghrani
Occupation tribal leader
Known for alleged drug lord

Rais Abdul Wahed Khan is an Afghan tribal leader.[1] According to an article in the May 23 2002 issue of Time magazine, Wahed was a Taliban commander who surrendered on January 5 2002. Time reported that Wahed remained at large and in command of his district. Other sources report that Wahed hid Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and enabled his escape. [2][3]

US intelligence analysts have described Wahid as a traditional tribal leader of a subtribe of the the Alozai tribe -- one of the two rival branches of the Pashtun ethnic group.

By 2003 Wahed had gone underground. Intelligence reports, prepared for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals and Administrative Review Board hearings of some Afghan detainees described Wahed as “...the Supreme Commander of a forty-man guerilla unit.[4].

Several Guantanamo detainees were captured following an ambush attempt near the village of Lejay, Afghanistan, described as "Wahed's stronghold".[5] According to Abdul Bagi, one of the detainees captured following the skirmish on February 10 2003, Wahed's base was in the neighboring village of Shna, Afghanistan. Bagi said Wahid didn't spend much time in the vicinity of Shna and Lejay, but rather spent most of his time in Kandahar. The Lejay villagers disputed that Wahed was associated with the Taliban. They asserted he had built the fortified compound when the communists had appointed him a regional administrator, and that they all hated him because he had murdered their neighbors and relatives during his time in power, during the Communist regime. They asserted he was from a rival tribe from theirs.

The "forty-man unit"

According to the allegations prepared for the Guantanamo Combatant Status Review Tribunals and Administrative Review Board hearings, a number of the captives had served in the "forty-man unit".

Individuals alleged to have served in the "forty-man unit"
isn name notes
849 Mohammed Nassim
  • Faced the allegation:
The detainee worked for a Taliban Commander and was part of a special forty-man unit.[6]
886 Nasrullah
  • Faced the allegations:
  • The detainee is identified as joining a 40-man group after the end of the Taliban regime.
  • A source identified the detainee as part of the 40-man unit. The detainee reports to his cousin who is a sub-commander in the 40-man unit. The 40-man unit is an organization supported by al Qaida.
888 Esmatulla
  • Faced the allegations:
890 Rahmatullah Sangaryar
942 Abdul Razzaq Hekmati
  • Alleged to be second in command of the 40-man unit.[9]
  • Abdul Razzaq Hekmati had an iron-clad alibi. He had been living as a refugee in Iran, receiving a stipend, which was a reward for rescuing three Northern Alliance leaders from a Taliban prison.
943 Abdul Ghani
  • Among the allegations Abdul Ghani faced were:
  • A source stated the detainee was also a part of a 40-man training team that taught hand grenade techniques, use of plastic explosives and automobile explosive device use for deployment outside of Afghanistan.[10]
  • One of the tasks of the 40-man unit was to provide protection to al Qaida for travel in Afghanistan.[11]
963 Abdul Bagi
968 Bismullah
1030 Abdul Hafiz

See also

References

  1. Michael Ware (2002-05-23). "Encountering the Taliban: A TIME correspondent tracks down unrepentant anti-American forces who vow to keep fighting". Time (magazine). Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,219755,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-30. "Although the Kandahar government has made dramatic announcements of Taliban surrenders, many of the trumpeted capitulations have turned out later to have been shams. In Baghran in the southwestern province of Helmand, formidable Taliban General Abdul Wahid, known as Rais the Baghran, was said to have given up around Jan. 5. The next day, TIME met with the resolute Wahid. Most of his arsenal and troops remained intact. To this day he controls the district." 
  2. Shahzada Zulfiqar (February 2002). "The Fall and After". Newsline. Archived from the original on 2002-07-12. http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsFeb2002/newsbeat2.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-30. "Rais Abdul Wahid, a powerful warlord in Baghran, a Tora Bora like mountainous area, agreed to cooperate in the search in the wake of threats by US forces to bombard the area. The search met with no success and some people believe Rais may have delayed it to give Mullah Omar enough time to get away."  mirror
  3. Victoria Burnett (July 11 2004). "As a vote nears, Taliban fight on". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2004-03-05. http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/07/11/as_a_vote_nears_taliban_fight_on?mode=PF. Retrieved 2008-07-30. "For example, Afghan officials had intelligence indicating that Akhtar Mohammed Usmani, a former Taliban commander of Kandahar, and Rais Abdul Wahid, who is believed to have sheltered the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, from coalition forces after the Taliban were forced from Kabul, are living in northern Helmand Province and financing their operations through opium, he said."  mirror
  4. Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Abdul Bagi's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 42
  5. Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Rahmatullah's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 49
  6. 6.0 6.1 OARDEC (8 November 2004). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Nasam, Mohammed". United States Department of Defense. p. page 37. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000600-000699.pdf#37. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  7. OARDEC (2004-09-02). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Ullah, Ismat (published in September 2007)". United States Department of Defense. p. page 44. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000600-000699.pdf#44. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 OARDEC (2005-10-29). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ismat Ullah". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 18-20. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000694-000793.pdf#18. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  9. OARDEC (16 August 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Razzak, Abdul". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 61-63. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000694-000793.pdf#61. Retrieved 2007-10-12. "The detainee was the number two commander of a 40-man unit of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The unit was formed in approximately November 2001 and was supported by al Qaida. The group continually plans to kill Americans. The Supreme Commander of the unit was Haji Raes Abdul Wahed [sic]." 
  10. OARDEC (26 October 2006). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ghani, Abdul". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 84-86. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_2_Factors_799-899.pdf#84. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 
  11. OARDEC (9 November 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Ghani, Abdul". United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 51-52. http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/ARB_Round_1_Factors_000694-000793.pdf#51. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 
  12. "Charge Sheet: Abdul Ghani". United States Department of Defense. 2008-07-28. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/00934%20charge%20sheet%20-%20signed.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29.  mirror