How did Uzbek commanders bring Pashtuns to rule the Uzbeks?
Source: “Ittilaate ruz”
When the Uzbeks of Faryab realized that the republican system was falling apart, and the local power of Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, the famous northern commander, was a thing of the past, they took a new approach: they approached the Uzbek Faryab Taliban, such as Salahuddin Ayubi, Makhdum Mohammad Alim Rabbani, Mawlawi Abdulrahman Rashid and Asadullah Muradi, famous among the inhabitants of this province. People thought that the strength and military prowess of these commanders (along with the significant forces of the local population who fought alongside them and on the side of the Taliban) would allow these Uzbek commanders to occupy high positions in the Taliban government after the fall of the Republic.
But when one of the important Uzbek commanders, Makhdum Mohammad Alim Rabbani, was arrested by Taliban intelligence on charges of “kidnapping,” tortured by the group for several days, and eventually transferred to a prison in Kabul, their expectations were not met. They began demonstrating and protesting against the arrest of Commander Rabbani with anger and disgust. But these protests did not benefit the release of this commander; on the contrary, he was met with a reaction mixed with contempt and insult from the Taliban; To the point that one of the Taliban representatives called the protesting people “jackals.”
It is unclear what will happen to these Uzbek commanders of the Taliban regime. What is somewhat clear is that the Taliban faction keeps these commanders under strict control. If it sees the slightest sign of rebellion or change of position in their activities, it immediately punishes them.
Four famous Uzbek commanders who fought on the side of the Taliban and experienced many ups and downs in the power structure of this group:
SALAHUDDIN AYYUBI
This brutal commander, known as "Fatihe Arg" - the conqueror of Arg (the residence of the President of Afghanistan), is one of the Uzbeks of Faryab, a resident of the village of "Mirshadi" in the Almar district of this province. He has loyal followers among the Taliban and the residents of this province. He fought for more than 20 years in the ranks of the Taliban against NATO and the Republican government and was wounded many times.
Ayubi was also among the group during the first period of Taliban rule, but his role became more prominent during its second reign. He first served as commander-in-chief of the troops in Faryab and then as the shadow governor of the Taliban in Faryab and was arrested twice by the Americans and imprisoned in Bagram.
A few days before the fall of the Republican regime, Ayubi arrived in Logar province from Pakistan and then moved to Kabul. He played a key role in the fall of Kabul, especially in the capture of the presidential palace, and has since become known as the “Conqueror of Arg.”
A source close to Qari Salahuddin Ayyubi said that after the capture of Kabul, he went to Faryab, his hometown, and lived in a rented house in Maimana. But a year after the fall of the previous regime at the hands of the Taliban, he built a four-story white palace in the city of Maimana, where he currently lives.
Ayubi always travels with 50 bodyguards in six vehicles (two armored vehicles, two Simorgas belonging to Abdurashid Dostum, a Fortiner, and a Hilux). Ayyubi's 50 special guards are under the command of a commander named Mullah Faiz Mohammad Shabir Ahmad.
After the fall of Afghanistan, Ayubi served as the Paktiya Army Corps commander and deputy minister of rural reconstruction and development. He is currently the Taliban police chief in Zabul province.
At the beginning of the Taliban's rise to power, when Ayubi entered the city of Maimana, he visited a large number of people in his hometown. At these meetings, people shared their small and large expectations with this commander. But people gradually stopped visiting him when they realized that the Taliban government had not given him the powers that should have been given to this commander and others like him. Now only his commanders and friends visit Ayyubi.
This Uzbek commander expressed his dissatisfaction and returned to Faryab twice due to what he called an ethnic monopolistic approach. However, on both occasions, through the mediation of Mawlawi Abdusalam Hanafi, the Uzbek deputy prime minister of the Taliban, he traveled to Kandahar and, after meeting Mullah Haibatullah, resumed his duties in various positions.
MAKHDUM MOHAMMAD ALIM RABBANI
Makhdum Mohammad Alim Rabbani is a resident of the village of Shurcha, Pashtunkot district of Faryab province. He is a controversial and popular face of the Taliban in Faryab, where he has more than 100 Uzbek Taliban commanders under his command.
Makhdum Mohammad Alim Rabbani was also part of the previous Taliban emirate forces. He played a prominent role in Faryab during the second Taliban rule, which led to the fall of Ashraf Ghani's government. He led most of the wars in this province, and most of the Uzbek Taliban commanders reported to him. He lost one eye due to a wound received during the war, was arrested by NATO forces, and transferred to Bagram. The Americans imprisoned Rabbani for about four to five years. However, there is no reliable information about how Makhdum Alim was released by NATO forces, except for a short news story in one of the media.
Rabbani, like Ayubi, was arrested by intelligence of this group on 22 Jadi 1400 (January 12, 2022) after the Taliban group captured Afghanistan and was released again a few months later. His arrest increased tensions between the Uzbeks and Pashtuns of Faryab, and the Uzbeks took control of the town of Maimana in a mass demonstration. However, by sending troops into the city of Maimana, the Taliban regained control of the city and suppressed public demonstrations.
Makhdum Mohammad Alim Rabbani generally has good relations with the heads of the Taliban government. For this reason, Taliban commanders loyal to him continue to work and are not removed from their posts.
After the fall of the Republican government, Rabbani lives in the house of Nizamuddin Qaisari, the representative of Marshal Abdurashid Dostum in the city of Maimana. He recently built a five-story house in the Tatarkhana district of the city of Maimana, which is still not completed. Rabbani walks around the city, accompanied by 20 bodyguards in three cars (armor, a Simorgh owned by Abdul Rashid Dostum, and a Hilux).
Following the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan, he was first appointed deputy governor of Saripul and then selected as police chief of Ghazni province, a post he still holds.
MAWLAWI ABDURAKHMAN RASHID
Mawlawi Abdurahman Rashid, the Taliban's deputy minister of migration, is a resident of Gopi Mirshikor village in Almar district. He is one of the commanders of the Uzbek Taliban, serving in the ranks of this group since the time of the first Taliban emirate. After the first fall of the Taliban, he went to Pakistan and lived there. After the Taliban began its military activities against the Republican regime, he came to his home district of Almar and briefly took charge of the war in the area. He briefly served as the shadow Taliban governor in Faryab, but most of the time he lived in Pakistan.
After the fall of the republic in August 2021, Rashid was appointed the Taliban's Minister of Agriculture. But after some time he was removed from his post and appointed Deputy Minister for Migration Affairs of this group, a position he still holds.
When this commander arrives in Faryab, he travels surrounded by 10 bodyguards in three cars. The Uzbek people do not see anything in him and do not place any hope in him. During his trip to Faryab, usually, no one from the province goes to greet or visit him.
DOMULLO ASADULLA MURADI
Asadullah Muradi, known as “Murodi Aqa,” is one of the prominent Taliban militants in Faryab who played a key role in the wars that led to the fall of several districts of Faryab as well as the city of Maimana. He is a resident of Kulbandi village in the Shirintagab district of Faryab and does not currently hold an official position in the Taliban government.
Before the fall of the Republican government, Muradi fought in wars with 80 men, equipped with modern weapons, and had many fans among the people and Taliban commanders. Most of Faryab's districts fell to Taliban attacks under his command. A Taliban source said residents of Faryab, especially those in the surrounding area, expected Muradi to be appointed governor of Faryab or to a higher position after the group captured Afghanistan. However, the Taliban government did not appoint him to any position.
UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS
The Uzbeks of Faryab expected that senior Uzbek Taliban commanders would be appointed to important government positions in that province due to the fight they waged and the loyalty they showed to the Taliban group. But it appears that almost three years after the Taliban returned to power, these residents have concluded that the Taliban were only using these commanders as a tool to bring down the republican system and that they would not be given power even at the lower local levels.
Two residents of the city of Maimana, the center of Faryab (we will not mention their names for obvious reasons), told the Ittilaate Ruz newspaper that they were disappointed with the Uzbek Taliban commanders. According to them, due to ethnic prejudice, the Taliban government decided to appoint them and other lower-ranking Taliban to unimportant positions and did not appoint any of these commanders to significant government positions.
These residents say the Taliban have begun appointing people from non-Uzbek ethnic groups, especially the Pashtun tribe, to key departments in the province:
“Currently, Pashtuns are appointed as key officials of this province, including intelligence, prosecution, court, justice and several other departments, which are considered key departments of the province, whereas during the republic, not only Pashtuns were appointed in these departments.”
