Mullah Dadullah Front
ملا دادالله محاذ
FounderMansoor Dadullah †
Dates of operation2007–2016
Dissolved2016
Split from Taliban
Allegiance Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2007-2015)
HeadquartersKabul, Afghanistan
IdeologySalafi Jihadism
Islamic Statism
Allies High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (denied)

Islamic State – Khorasan Province (claimed by Taliban alleged, denied by Mullah Dadullah Front)

Fidai Mahaz (denied)
Opponents Taliban (2015-2016)

United States

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

The Mullah Dadullah Front (also known as the Dadullah Front, the Mullah Dadullah Lang Allegiance or the Mullah Dadullah Mahaz[1]) was an insurgent group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and assassinations centered in Kabul.[2][3]

Background

Mullah Dadullah Akhund was a Taliban military commander killed in 2007.[4] According to Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal, Dadullah had joined the Taliban in 1994 but was held in disfavor by some in that organization for his brutality during the Afghan civil war.[4] Following the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 Dadullah led Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan. U.S. Military officials stated that Dadullah made use of suicide bombings in the Taliban's fight against American, NATO and Afghan government forces, and embraced the radical ideology of al-Qaeda[1][5] rejected by many other Taliban leaders.[6] Dadullah was killed by British special forces in Helmand Province in 2007. The Dadullah Front, apparently named in his honor, began operating in Southern Afghanistan, including Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan Provinces, under the leadership of Dadullah's younger brother, Mansoor Dadullah.[7][2] The group's level of independence from the Taliban was unclear.[1][5]

Operations

U.S. Military and intelligence officials at one stage claimed that the Dadullah Front was led by Mullah Abdul Qayoum Zakir, also known as Abdullah Gulam Rasoul, a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay who was released in 2007.[1]

The Dadullah Front claimed responsibility for 14 May 2012 assassination of Afghan High Peace Minister Mullah Arsala Rahmani, who was shot in traffic within Kabul.[5][8] Spokesman Qari Hamza, speaking to the Express Tribune, stated that the Dadullah Front would "target and eliminate" all persons allowing "[non-Muslim] occupation of Afghanistan."[8] Rahmani was the second Peace minister to be killed within the year, following the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani by a suicide bomber on 20 September 2011. The Dadullah Front also claimed responsibility for that assassination.[3] Both Rahmani and Rabbani had been responsible for organizing ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the Karzai's government in Afghanistan.[8] American and Afghan officials have stated that the Dadullah Front was attempting to derail peace negotiations then underway with the Taliban.[2]

Callers claiming to represent the group contacted several Afghan officials in May 2012, including Zabul Province representative Dawood Hasas, and threatened retaliation should they vote in favor of a "strategic partnership" negotiated between Hamid Karzai and U.S. President Barack Obama.[2]

Relations with the Taliban

Afghan intelligence officials described the Dadullah Front as affiliated with the Taliban.[2] Taliban spokesmen denied any relationship with the Front,[2][8] and claimed that the group was a creation of the National Directorate of Security.[2]

Following the August 2015 announcement that Akhtar Mansour had succeeded the deceased Mullah Omar as leader of the Taliban, Dadullah refused to support him, leading to months of clashes between their forces in Zabul Province, resulting in the killing of Dadullah and many of his supporters in November 2015.[9] In August 2016, the Dadullah Front announced Dadullah's nephew Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor as its new leader, and threatened to take revenge on the Taliban.[10]

The group was linked to another Taliban splinter group, Fidai Mahaz,[11] but the groups were believed to be separate.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Roggio, Bill (4 December 2010). "Financier for 'Mullah Dadullah Front' captured in Afghan south". The Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Norland, Rod, "In Afghanistan, New Group Begins Campaign of Terror Archived 12 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine", The New York Times, 19 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b Connor Simpson (19 May 2012). "Meet the New "More Radical" Insurgent Group in Afghanistan". The Atlantic Wire. Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b Roggio, Bill, "Mullah Dadullah, Taliban top commander, killed in Helmand Archived 6 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine", The Long War Journal, 13 May 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Roggio, Bill, "Mullah Dadullah Front claims assassination of Afghan High Peace Council member Archived 16 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine", The Long War Journal, 14 May 2012.
  6. ^ Special Operations Interrogator's Report, "State of the Taliban Archived 16 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine," published by The New York Times, drafted 6 January 2012.
  7. ^ "IS emergence sounds alarms in Afghanistan". The Express Tribune. 4 April 2015. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d Khan, Tahir, "Killer blow to the peace process: senior afghan peace negotiator assassinated Archived 17 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine," Express Tribune, 14 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Leader of Taliban Splinter Group Allied With ISIS Is Killed". The New York Times. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Breakaway Taliban faction names new leader in Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Taliban splinter group says it killed British-Swedish reporter Nils Horner". The Guardian. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2016. It last made headlines nearly two years ago in a different incarnation – the Mullah Dadullah front
  12. ^ "Afghan Taliban commander: Mansoor Dadullah reunites with family". The Express Tribune. 21 February 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2015. Mansoor's supporters had launched separate groups – the Shaheed Dadullah Mahaz and Fidaye Mahaz
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