Pacha Khan Zadran

Pacha Khan Zadran (Pashto: پاچا خان ځدراڼ) is a powerful militia leader, politician and Pashtun nationalist 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.

Governor of Paktia

Zadran was one of the anti-Taliban warlords who attended the December 2001 conference in Bonn Germany which chose Hamid Karzai as President of the Afghan Transitional Authority.cite news
url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003274095_torture25.html
title=Cloak of secrecy hides abuse in Afghanistan
publisher=Seattle Times
author=Kevin Sack, Craig Pyes
date=September 26 2006
accessdate=2007-10-22]

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.Christian Science Monitor, [http://www.khyber.org/people/pol/BadshahKhanZadran.shtml Badshah Khan Zadran] , June 2002]

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.

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 Khost.

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 Airport, and a helicopter took them to Kabul.BBC News, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3461351.stm Pakistan hands over Afghan rebel] , February 5, 2004]

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 Studiescite news
url=http://acd.iiss.org/armedconflict/Mainpages/dsp_ConflictTimeline.asp?DisplayYear=1&ConflictID=181&YearID=610
title=Armed Conflict Database: Afghanistan Timeline
publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies
date=October 15 2007
accessdate=2007-10-22] :

Guantanamo connection

Four Guantanamo detainees Khan Zaman, 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 because Khan Zaman had helped recruit fighters to join Pacha Khan's forces during his drive to oust the Taliban. [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0202-01.htm Villagers Add to Reports of Raids Gone Astray] , "New York Times", February 2 2002]

The Combatant Status Review Tribunal of Khan Zaman's son, Gul Zaman, determined that Gul Zaman should never have been classified as an enemy combatant, and he was set free. The other men remain in Guantanamo.

Reports of banditry

Human Rights Watch, 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 mencite news
url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/afghanistan0703/afghanistan0703.pdf
title=Killing you is a very easy thing for us
publisher=Human Rights Watch
page=40
date=July 2003
accessdate=2007-10-22
format=PDF] :quotation
“I’ll tell you: The checkpoint on the way to Khost took 200 Pakistani rupees [U.S.$2.50] from me. This was the checkpoint that belongs to Padsha Khan Zadran.

“Once I refused to pay, and they put a gun on me, and they took the money by force. You cannot say no to them.”

Tribal forces captured Pacha Khan Zadran in Pakistan's Tribal Areas on December 1 2003.cite news
url=http://www.securisk.com/alerts/alertdisplay2.asp?Country=Afghanistan
title=Pakistanis Turn Over Wanted Warlord
publisher=Securisk
date=February 5 2004
accessdate=2007-10-22] 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. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003275766_torture26.html Gung-ho rogue troops add torture to their arsenal] , "Seattle Times", September 26 2006]

eptember 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.cite news
url=http://www.staugustine.com/stories/091102/wor_977033.shtml
title=Allies in fight against terror at war with each other
publisher=St Augustine Times
author=Kathy Gannon
date= September 4, 2007
accessdate=2007-10-21] McNeill's intent was to get Zadran's men to stop setting up roadblocks. Their unauthorized roadblocks were interfering with the activieites 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.of

Assassination attempts

Pacha Khan Zadran has been reported to have been the subject of several assassination attempts.cite news
url=http://acd.iiss.org/armedconflict/Mainpages/dsp_ConflictTimeline.asp?DisplayYear=1&ConflictID=181&YearID=610
title=Armed Conflict Database: Afghanistan Timeline
publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies
date=October 15 2007
accessdate=2007-10-22]

ee also

*Ziauddin
*Abdullah Mujahid

References

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=None
title=Governor of Paktia Province, Afghanistan
years=2001–2002
after=Taj Mohammad Wardak