Rajab 01, 1431 A.H, Monday, June 14, 2010

Faryab Province is situated in the north of Afghanistan adjacent to the provinces of Jowzjan, Sar-e-pol, Ghor and Baghdis. Its northern borders are also connected to the Republic of Turkmenistan in Central Asia. The province capital is Maymana and its districts are Pashtun Kot, Khwaja Sabz Posh, (Juma Bazar), Shirin Tagab, Dawlat Abad, Andkhoy, Qaramcol, Khani Chahar Bagh, Almar, Qaysar, Kohistan, Gurziwan, Bilchiragh, Khwaja Namusa, Lawlash.

Faryab Province covers an area of 20,293 square kilometers, and according to the latest statistics it has a population of approximately 900,000. Its residents, most of whom subsist on agriculture have a low standard of living.

As part of our series of interviews with provincial officials, al-Somood met with the General Jihadist Official for this province, esteemed brother Qari’ (Umar al-Faruq), who is 30 years old and a resident of the Dawlat Abad district in the province.

In his youth, brother Umar al-Faruq memorized the Glorious Quran, subsequently continued his religious studies in different schools and went forth on armed Jihad after the American invasion of Afghanistan. He took part in Jihadist operations with Mujahideen in Jawzjan and Sar-e-pol in additional to Jihad in other provinces of the country. The brother lately bore responsibility for the military command in the Dawlet Abad directorate and has recently been entrusted with the General Jihadist Command for the entire province. Al-Somood conducted the below interview with him concerning the Jihadist situation in Faryab Province.

Al-Somood: To start, we would like you to provide us with a picture of the Jihadist situation in Faryab Province and on the nature of Mujahideen activities and the extent of their presence in the province.

Commander Umar al-Faruq: Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon His servants whom He has chosen!

First of all, I would like to present my greetings to the brothers who carry out the al-Somood magazine. I feel joy at this opportunity for a direct interview with you to share this information with the magazine’s readers. To answer your question, I would say that through the grace of Allah, the Mujahideen have an active presence in all the directorates of the province and are supervising Jihadist affairs in them.

As for the directorates in which the Mujahideen have a strong presence are the provinces of Shirin Tagab, Dawlat Abad, Khwaja Namusa, Almar, Qaysar, Chilgza, Gurziwan, Bilchiragh, and Lawlash directorate.

The Mujahideen are openly present in these areas and have a strong level of activity there. The control of the government is effectively limited to only the government centers and the surrounding areas. Units of Mujahideen are present in other regions as well, but their influence there is not on the same level as in the aforementioned districts.

We are able to say that the Mujahideen, through the grace of Almighty Allah, have cleared wide areas of the enemy’s control and the Mujahideen conduct organized patrols there in four-wheel vehicles, motorcycles and on foot. They can easily move from one area to another in order to deliver supplies to the Mujahideen in this province and neighboring provinces. There is nothing there to hinder the movements of the Mujahideen. Jihadist circumstances are constantly improving, through the grace of Almighty Allah, and the scope of Mujahideen control expands day after day.

Al-Somood: If you would please mention some of the recent operations and victories of the Mujahideen.

Commander Umar al-Faruq: Many areas of the Faryab Province have in the past year witnessed successful operations and it would require a long time to relate all of them. However, I will mention to you some that I readily recall as follows:

1. In the past three months, three violent clashes have occurred between the Mujahideen and the enemy. The last of these was in the village of Khwaja Kandu in which a large number of Norwegian soldiers were killed, in addition to a large number of troops from the collaborator army.

2. An intense battle occurred between the Mujahideen and the soldiers of the lackey army and the local mercenaries called “Arbakian” in the Gawar district of Almar directorate. This resulted in the death of two commanders from the officers of the puppet army, in addition to the death of ten lackey soldiers and burning three enemy troop transports. In this operation the Mujahideen also took as booty; two enemy transports of the Ranger type. They are still in the possession of the Mujahideen.

3. The enemy conducted a series of operations in the Khan Khwaja district of Khwaja Namusa directorate with the aim of clearing this area of the Mujahideen. But the Mujahideen, through the grace of Almighty Allah, resisted the enemy operations with exceeding heroism for a number of days. The residents of the district helped them to a great extent in this resistance. Immense damages in lives and equipment were inflicted on the enemy in that battle. The Crusaders’ land and air-forces took part in that battle, but they did not achieve their aims, through the grace of Allah Almighty, and turned back as losers dragging their tails behind them in shame.

4. Also, through the grace of Allah Almighty, the Mujahideen inflicted great losses on Crusader forces and their agents in the lackey army, in recurring heavy clashes between us and the enemy in the directorates of Pashtun Kot, Qaysar, Shirin Tagab and Dawlat Abad.

Al-Somood: What are the areas to which the enemy cannot easily go?

Commander Umar al-Faruq: The Mujahideen are present in all areas of Faryab. As for the districts which the Mujahideen control completely and for a long time is Khwaja Namusa, except for the district government building, from which the enemy cannot leave for the surrounding areas. Likewise, the Mujahideen control half of the area of Dawlat Abad and Shirin Tagab directorates. The enemy has not been able to go there for a long while. Also there are the districts of Gurziwan, Kikawash and Dahan Darra in the mountainous area of Kohistan. The Mujahideen control of these areas has taken the form of a government and organized administration. The enemy can not go to these areas except for in the company of very large forces with air cover. Every time the enemy has attempted to send his forces to those areas, they have been repulsed after suffering great losses.

Al-Somood: How do you assess the Mujahideen forces in quantity and quality? And what about the popularity of the Jihad and the Mujahideen among the people of the area?

Commander Umar al-Faruq: There is now in every directorate one group of Mujahideen as a matter of necessity. In some directorates there are more than one group. The number of Mujahideen in the province is in the hundreds, but I cannot tell you the exact number. To answer your question about the popularity of the Mujahideen among the people, we say: It is natural that people will question the popularity of the Mujahideen and the solidarity of the populace with them in the north, due to the great amount they heard from what is circulated by the Western media, about the Mujahideen being confined to the south and that only the people in the south stand with the Mujahideen. But I will tell you with all confidence that the Mujahideen in the north enjoy the same popularity and cooperation enjoyed in other Afghan provinces. We now see that 80% of the residents of Faryab province help the Mujahideen and assist their position.

Among the rumors spread by the enemies in the north (with the intent of dividing the people) is that only the Pashtun tribes and some of the Tajik tribes support the Mujahideen; indicating a lack of cooperation from the Uzbek and Turkmen with the Mujahideen. We however strongly deny these rumors and regard them as inflammatory lies. I have seen with my own eyes the situation in Faryab, Jowzjan and Sar-e-pol provinces and have witnessed the support of all ethnic groups for the Mujahideen. For example, if you came to the directorates of Gurziwan, Lawlash, Bilchiragh and other areas you would not find a single Pashtun or Tajik, because all of the residents are Uzbek, Turkmen or Hazara, and they still help the Mujahideen more than anyone. Through the grace of Almighty Allah first, then by virtue of these ethnic groups standing by the side of the Mujahideen, these areas are considered strongholds for the Mujahideen, which provide with goodwill all the weapons and other supplies that the Mujahideen require in those areas.

Al-Somood: What are your plans for the coming Jihadist year?

Commander Umar al-Faruq: The most important of our plans for the coming year are organizing our operations well and expanding the Mujahideen’s sphere of strength to all the areas of Faryab province. We had taken some steps on this path in the past year, but there remain some directorates in which there is not an open presence of the Mujahideen. This is an area which requires great efforts.

The Mujahideen have already begun their military preparations. Likewise they have drafted comprehensive plans to emphasize preaching and education activity in the region to illuminate the minds of the people about Jihad and the goals of the Mujahideen. The Mujahideen have had great successes in the realm of preaching and education in this region. Our Jihad in this province began with preaching activity when we were giving provocative sermons and righteous lectures in the mosques, and visiting people in their homes to clarify our aims and goals to them. It has frequently occurred that the Mujahideen would stand in the road and stop passersby to declare to them the situation of the Mujahideen and the necessity of Jihad against the occupiers. We make the matter clear to the people and have gained their trust through preaching and education. Consequently the people understand that the Mujahideen are the sons of this country and the elite young men of this faithful people. This is in contrast to the bad reputation that the enemy has earned. In view of the good results to our preaching and educational activities, we will exert more efforts on this path, and they will have a great impact, Almighty Allah willing.

Al-Somood: Finally, is there a message you wish to send to your faithful people through the pages of al-Somood magazine?

Commander Umar al-Faruq: Thank you very much. My message to our Mujahid people, especially to the people of the northern provinces is to be extremely cautions about the fitnah which the enemies are trying to ignite among Muslims, and to take heed of the conspiracies of the enemy. Our country remains under occupation by Crusader invaders who have stripped our people of all religious, social and other rights. They are constantly trying to plant the seeds of hypocrisy and division among the ethnic groups present in the region, in order to destroy the achievements of Jihad and the Mujahideen. This is the same plan implemented by the Russians in the days when they were fleeing Afghanistan through some of their local agents. Our faithful people are still suffering the negative and bitter consequences of this. None of us must be duped by the rumors of the enemy and carried away behind them. Let us all know that Jihad fi sabeel Allah a shared responsibility for all Muslims and Afghans. Jihad is not the distinction of one ethnic group above others. We are in urgent need of solidarity and rallying around each other. Thus we will approach the day of the enemy’s defeat, Almighty Allah willing. I am confident that by this method alone we will gain honor and status in both Deen and Dunya.

Al-Somood: We thank you for affording us this opportunity to meet with you. We beseech Allah, the Almighty to give you honor and success, and to accept all your efforts in the cause of Almighty Allah.

Commander Umar al-Faruq: We also thank you for your visit to us and for delivering the message of the Mujahideen to the world. We beseech Allah, the Almighty to accept your media fi sabeel Allah. Wasalaam alaeikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.