| Escalating tribal tensions in Afghanistan's southeast may benefit Taliban AFP
02/24/2004
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KHOST - Until now, the powers of Pashtun tribal leaders in the southeastern province of Khost have held Islamic fundamentalist Taliban forces at bay, but growing tensions within the tribes could upset this balance. "Khost has often been seen by Kabul as a very restive province. However, the actions of the Taliban here are limited," says General Khialbaz Khan, commander of the 25th militia division -- the principal pro-government force in the region. Despite being bracketed by the border with the loosely-governed Pakistani tribal zone to the east and a mountainous range believed to be inhabited by Taliban and other al-Qaeda militants to the west, Khost seems to have been spared the guerrilla attacks visited on the neighbouring province of Paktika to the south. The vast plains of Khost enjoy relative tranquility, AFP has learned from visiting Khost city and several towns. Militants from the Taliban militia have, however, increased their activities in the past few months and threatened to launch larger scale operations in the spring, local authorities admit. "The Taliban will try to prevent the rolling out of the electoral process, but we have means of stopping them," Khialbaz Khan said in reference to presidential elections scheduled for June. Forces loyal to the administration of President Hamid Karzai also face growing threats on another front -- that of foreign insurgents and volunteer suicide-bombers crossing the border, the general says. "This sickness has come from Iraq and Palestine," he says. Yet in reality, the powerful Pashtun tribes are, more so than the 25th division, the principal guarantors of security in the province. So far the majority of tribal chiefs have chosen to work with the governor of the province, Abdul Hakim Taniwal, thereby limiting the Taliban's capacity for action. "Khost is a very traditional society where the support of the tribes is the major political determinant," says Amir Shah Kargar spokesman for a local non-government agency. "Without this support for the government, the Taliban would have an increased capacity for action and the governor would not be assured the power to manage the province," he said. But growing tensions between some tribes is prompting fears that the leaders may revoke their support for the governor in favour of someone else taking power at the local level. "The governor has confiscated all other tribes' powers to profit except for his own, the Tanai," said a journalist from the local press in Khost, asking to remain anonymous. This has led to increased frustration among tribes, particularly those of the Zadran, Gurbaz and Mandozai. A key figure in the Taliban movement, ex-mujahideen commander and Zadran tribe leader Jalalludin Haqqani stands to profit from this kind of discontent. "There are tensions between tribes," says General Khialbaz Khan. "Thanks to the governor, the Tanai have maybe gained too much power. But all these differences can be removed via negotiations," he added. Another division which may help the Taliban is the political rivalries between the "communists" and the anti-Soviet "mujahedin" fighters in the town. A number of cadres from the pro-Russian Najibullah regime now occupy high positions within the provincial government. For the veterans of the fight against the Soviets, this is an untenable situation. It is only worsened by property disputes. Hundreds of Najibullah supporters, forced to flee their homes when the regime was toppled in 1992, are today attempting to reclaim their assets from mujahedin families, according to local officials.
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