Echo of Jihad from Paktia’s Paternal Mountains
Rajab 18, 1431 A.H, Thursday, July 01, 2010
Paktia province is located in southeast Afghanistan and
shares borders with the provinces of Logar, Ghazny, Paktika and Khost. Paktia is
a province and mountainous and rugged terrain with the exception of its capital
Gardiz and the Zarmut and Said Karam directorates. Forests of oak and pine cover
most of its mountains, and it therefore represents one of the best spots in
Afghanistan in terms of natural beauty. The famous Suliman mountain chain
extends east and west through the province and covers most of its area.
The standard of living of residents in this province in terms of poverty does
not much differ from the remaining Afghan provinces. They do not own spacious
lands for farming, so its people live on what they can get from lumber, fruits
and other produce of the mountains.
Paktia is one of the provinces whose
people were greatly damaged in the days of the Russian
occupation when their homes and villages were destroyed by
heavy bombing in the long battles which went on for more than
ten years. Its people were forced to leave their homes and
migrate to other areas because their districts - like Zadran,
Jaji and Zarmut - were among the most important areas of
Mujahideen influence and there the Russians sustained great
losses.
When America attacked Afghanistan, Paktia was once again the
province from which was launched the spark of resistance
against the Americans face-to-face. American forces
encountered their most fierce resistance in the mountains of
Shahi Kut in the Zarmut directorate. The Americans sustained
great losses there and the American generals admitted that the
American army had not encountered such resistance in forty
years since its battles in Vietnam.
That momentous battle is considered the first opening in the
path of the resistance against the American Crusader forces,
vanishing from the minds of the people the terror planted
there by the American propaganda war. After that violent
resistance, Jihadist opposition spread in other areas of
Paktia and it did not take a long time to pass before secret,
scattered resistance transformed into open and organized
opposition.
In view of the strategic military importance of this province,
the enemy has established strong military bases and dispatched
large forces there with the intent of weakening Jihadist
resistance. Through the grace of Almighty Allah, however, they
have not been able to achieve their goals there and their
forces have become confined to their military bases.
As for the Mujahideen, they control 80%
of the area of this province and the enemy is not able to move
freely in the region except for some special areas. For
example, the districts of Chawani, Ibrahim Kheil and Sada Kula
and the neighboring villages around the provincial capital
Gardiz are all under the control of the Mujahideen. Enemy
convoys encounter Mujahideen opposition by merely trying to
leave the city center.
The Arma directorate west of the city was completely conquered
by the Mujahideen four years ago and there is absolutely no
enemy presence there. As for the Zarmut directorate, despite
the presence there of four alleged reconstruction units called
P.R.T.s and a large number of barracks for Crusader troops and
their agents from the lackey army, the enemy controls nothing
except the district center. The remaining wide areas of this
directorate, including the famous Wadi Shahi Kut, are all
under the control of the Mujahideen and enemy forces and
convoys are not able to pass from Gardiz in the direction of
Ghazny and Paktika.
On the other side, in the directorates of Shawak, Karda Chiri
and Waza Zadran situated on the road between Gardiz and Khost,
the enemy controls nothing except for the district centers and
some checkpoints on the public highway. The remainder of the
area is generally under the influence of the Mujahideen. The
areas between Jani Kheil and Mungal are considered areas of
Mujahideen control, where they have an open presence and
strong military bases in addition to a civil administration
for local affairs in these districts. Rarely does the enemy
travel on the road stretching between Gardiz and Khost without
suffering losses in lives and equipment.
On top of the above-mentioned districts, the directorates of
Jani Kheil, Gamkani, Dandabatan, Jaji Aryub, Sayyed Karam and
Ahmad Kheil are also areas with organized units of Mujahideen
in which they openly conduct their activities. In most of
these areas there is no enemy presence for the Mujahideen to
target. On the other hand, most of the areas of these
directorates are rugged and mountainous and it is difficult to
move from one place to another. This causes a delay in the
arrival of news and reports of Mujahideen operations. Perhaps
news of some operations does not reach media agencies until
after it has lost its informative and media value.
Ahmad Aba and Laja are considered the sole provinces under
enemy control. However, even they are not completely devoid of
Mujahideen activities.
Meanwhile, Jihadist officials plan to
escalate Mujahideen activity in eastern Paktia province to the
level it is in the south and west of the province. There are
Mujahideen efforts to sever the supply road for enemy bases
located in the Chiminki and Jaji Aryub directorates in order
to occupy the enemy in more than one place at once.
Weather conditions also impact Mujahideen activities. With the
coming of spring, we are seeing an increase in Mujahideen
operations to grant Paktia a place at the top of the list of
Mujahideen operations. It is not far-fetched that soon we will
see burning columns of Crusader tanks and transports on the
streets and in the valleys of Paktia just as we saw Russian
tanks in the recent past. This is up to Allah.
By Qari Habib
Translated From The Islamic Emirate Of
Afghanistan: Al-Somood Monthly Magazine,
Issue 47
Submitted by a Mujahid