April 23, 2007

Mullah Dadullah About to Meet Allah, or Maybe Escape....AGAIN!

We've reported that the Taliban's tactical commander, Mullah Dadullah, has been captured before, but this time reports are that he is surrounded. He's a serious bigwhig in the Taliban comand structure. Officially he's #2 to Mullah Omar, but he seems to be the real boots-on-the-ground commander.

What frightens me about the report that 200 Taliban have been surrounded is that it is Afghani forces doing the surrounding. As we've seen in past large-scale engagements, the Afghans are prone to negotiating with the Taliban rather than engage them. While the negotiations commence, the leadership gets out of Dodge. Many have argued that this is how Osama bin Laden got away when he was surrounded at Tora Bora.

Adjmal Nakshbandi, the translator for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, is said to have been beheaded on Dadullah's orders.....and the Afghans want to negotiate with this guy? Did any of you watch the History Channel's special on William Tecumseh Sherman? I did, and I believe our military strategists could learn a thing or two.....

AP:

Afghan forces have trapped up to 200 Taliban fighters in a southern village, possibly including the militia's military commander, demanding they surrender or come under attack, Afghan officials said Monday....

Khan told The Associated Press that Mullah Dadullah, a close aide to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, and other regional Taliban commanders were at the meeting when the village was surrounded. The security forces were still positioned around the village on Monday, he said.

"We are trying to get him to surrender and to arrest these Taliban without fighting," he said.....

Separately, an intelligence service employee was kidnapped and beheaded by suspected Taliban fighters at a home in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, said deputy governor Mohammad Kazim Allayar.

Update: Related pessimism from Allahpundit.

Related:
Taliban Commander Mullah Dadullah Possibly Captured
Translator Beheaded by Taliban