Ismatullah Muslim
Ismatullah Muslim Khan Achakzai عصمت الله مسلم خان اچکزی | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Ismat |
Born | 1943 |
Died | 1991 (aged 47–48) |
Allegiance | / Republic of Afghanistan (1973-1978) /// Soviet-Afghan War Afghan Civil War (1989–1992) |
Ismatullah Muslim (died 1991), also called Ismatullah Achakzai or just Ismat, was an
Mujahideen commander
Ismatullah, an
In 1983, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, which channeled international support for the insurgency, discovered that Ismatullah had compromised almost all of its agents in Quetta in a drug and weapon smuggling network. This led to a major reorganisation of the distribution of supplies to the mujahideen: in order to receive weapons all commanders were required to become affiliated with one of the resistance parties based in Peshawar.[3]
Refusing to join any party, Ismatullah instead formed his own group, called the Fidayan-i islam.[4] In 1984, having been cut off from the ISI weapons pipeline, he started attacking and ransoming arms convoys destined for other mujahideen formations. These groups retaliated, and heavy fighting broke out before the ISI managed to arrange a ceasefire. After he had turned to threatening Pakistani diplomatic personnel, the ISI's commander, General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, summoned him to Islamabad where he agreed to join Sayyed Ahmed Gailani's party, in exchange for a delivery of weapons. However, the ISI refused to give him any heavy weapons, and soon began to suspect him of being an agent of the KHAD or the KGB. Having got wind of his imminent arrest, Ismatullah fled to Kabul and defected to the government.[5]
Pro-government militia leader
Upon joining the PDPA government, he was made a
Ismatullah later tried to regain the ISI's favour, but the Pakistanis refused to return his property which they had confiscated when he changed sides, including two Mercedes-Benz cars, and the proposal came to nothing.[2] After the Soviets had withdrawn from southern Afghanistan in 1988, his militia suffered a bloody reverse, and he lost control of Spin Boldak to an ISI-sponsored mujahideen offensive. He died in 1991 in a Soviet hospital, presumably from the effects of drug and alcohol abuse.[2] His tribal militia continued to exist and in 2001, led by his nephews, they supported Gul Agha Sherzai. It was later reformed as a border guard unit in Spin Boldak.[1]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85065-932-7.
- ^ ISBN 0-300-05963-9.
- ^ Rubin, p.199
- ^ Giustozzi, p.62
- ISBN 0-9711709-2-4.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.63
- ISBN 0-333-80291-8.
- ISBN 0-333-51477-7.