Juggernaut Stumbles

But five days after visions of total control were raised by their march into Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of the northern Balkh province, the Taliban was forced to retreat when it ran into problems with Malik himself. He is apparently sore for not being made the supreme leader in northern Afghanistan—he was handed the deputy foreign minister's post in the Taliban government, which meant he would have to be stationed in Kabul. Since he was Dostum's foreign minister, the Taliban said they wanted him for the same job but he was unhappy at being given an insignificant task after having risked so much while taking on a formidable foe like Dostum.

The dramatic switcharound of loyalties led to 15 hours of fighting between the Taliban on one side, and the Shiite Hezb-i-Wahdat, Dostum's ally, and Malik's men on the other. The fierce gun battle between the allies-turned-enemies broke out after talks between the Taliban foreign minister Mulla Muhammad Ghaus and Gen. Malik collapsed on the question of disarming Malik's men and recognition of his political alliance—the two main points of the agreement. Malik wanted his top commanders to be rewarded for their role in toppling Dostum but the Taliban, which wants to keep all jobs in their own hands, refused. The writing was clear on the wall as a grim Malik walked out of the meeting.

The Taliban soon found themselves trapped, surrounded by enemies on all sides. The hosts became the captors, holding hostage Mulla Abdul Razzaq, governor of Herat who was appointed political and military head of northern Afghanistan, Ghaus and Afghanistan's State Bank governor Maulvi Ihsanullah along with hundreds of Taliban fighters.

"The Taliban wanted to impose their hegemony over Mazar and had put at risk the life, honour and property of ordinary citizens. The people had no other option but to defend themselves," claimed a Hezb-i-Wahdat leader. The Taliban, of course, reacted angrily to allegations that it was trying to overrun the north: "The charges have been levelled by those whose misbehavior is too well known," remarked Wakil Ahmad, the Taliban's chief spokesman, from their headquarters in Kandahar.

Significantly, the Taliban's reversal was as quick as the march into the north. Like a pack of cards, Shiberghan, Samangan, Faryab and Saripul were all reclaimed by Malik's forces. The Taliban were forced to pull out because it does not have any significant presence in any of the provinces and was riding piggyback on Malik. But the Taliban spokesman played down the events. "These appear to be the result of some misunderstanding," Wakil Ahmad said. He refused to comment whether the Taliban's alliance with Malik stood intact. "It is difficult to say anything now. We are observing the situation. Let the dust settle."

To complicate matters, by May 28, the Taliban forces had crossed the treacherous Salang Pass and captured Pol-e-Khomri, capital of Baghlan province, after defeating the Ismaili militia led by Mansoor Naderi. A day later, there were reports of the anti-Taliban alliance retaking Pol-e-Khomri and Ahmed Shah Masood, Burhanuddin Rabbani's strongman, cutting off the Taliban from the rear by blocking the Salang tunnel once again. Masood was also said to be moving towards Jabulsiraj, a key town that he lost some months ago to the Taliban. The Taliban had claimed that Masood had talked to them, but this was denied by his men.

When Dostum ran from Afghanistan, he himself would not have expected that the Taliban will suffer such a reversal of fortune at the hands of the man who was responsible for his own downfall. Malik, belonging to an influential family from Faryab province, is an ethnic Uzbek like Dostum, the reason why the latter trusted him more than his other aides. The two fell out when Malik's elder brother, Rasul Pahlawan, a powerful military commander in Dostum's Jumbush-i-Milli Islami party, was murdered in mysterious circumstances last year. There was a strong suspicion that Dostum may have been behind the murder, one factor which might have prompted Malik to revolt against Dostum. The family never blamed Dostum for Rasul's death; in fact, a younger brother, Gul Mohammad Pahlawan, told this correspondent last year that Masood was responsible for it.

Dostum, once a semi-literate factory worker, raised a militia that fought for and against the Muiahideen according to the circumstances. This force was known by many names, among them Uzbek militia, after the ethnic origin of most of its members, and Jauzjani militia because most of the militiamen hailed from Dostum's home province of Jauzjan. But one name which stuck was Gilumjam, that is carpetsnatchers, because these militiamen knew how to avenge themselves, to loot and plunder, taking away even the last car pets and rugs from houses and shops.

Despite the setback, the Taliban are not being written off. The defeat has shattered the myth of their invincibility though, and this may encourage other commanders to rebel against them elsewhere.

Pakistan, which became the first country to recognise a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, defended its decision on May 29, saying it was based on "objective realities". A foreign office spokesman in Islamabad said negotiations were under way in Afghanistan to remove differences among various groups.

For the moment, the tactic of conquering the north with the help of Malik seems to have failed. Of course, the recognition by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia must have boosted the Taliban's confidence. More countries may have followed suit despite having reservations, but now they will want to wait. The Taliban would be keen to receive US recognition, which has in any case provided tacit support to the Taliban. But a retired US Administration source, highly critical of the policy and speaking on strict conditions of anonymity, said "the US is blindly backing the wrong horse and following the wrong path—the path drawn by assistant secretary Robin Raphel in a fit of artless enthusiasm for a fundamentalist group". He agreed India was justified in being concerned about the Taliban's impact on the Kashmiri insurgency.

Any idea of a democratic Afghanistan is out of the question as the Taliban reject elections. This only confirms the suspicion that the problem is far from resolved, more so because the long-suffering Afghan people would expect the Taliban to initiate steps to provide them a better quality of life. But for that the Taliban must first consolidate its hold over the country.