Dadullah (1966 – May 11, 2007) was the Taliban's senior military commander in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

until his death in 2007. He was also known as

Maulavi Mawlawi ( ar, مولوي; also spelled Maulvi, Molvi, Moulavi and Mawlvi) is an Islamic religious title given to Muslim religious scholars, or ulama, preceding their names, similar to the titles Mawlānā, Mullah, or Sheikh. Mawlawi generally ...

or Mullah Dadullah Akhund ( ps, ملا دادالله آخوند). He also earned the nickname of ''Lang'', meaning "lame" (as in Timur Lang), because of a leg he lost during fighting. An ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

from the

Kakar The Kakar (Pashto: کاکړ) is a Gharghashti Pashtun tribe, based mostly in Northern Balochistan, Pakistan and Loy Kandahar in Afghanistan. Legendary origin Kakars are sons of Gharghashti who was the son of Qais Abdul Rashid. In Herat, the ...

tribe of

Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzga ...

, he was known as "The Butcher", even among fellow Talibans, for his outbursts of violence, notably in cutting men's heads off, as per some even being stripped of his command at least two times by

Mullah Omar Mullah Muhammad Omar (; –April 2013) was an Afghan Islamic revolutionary who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Born into a religious family of Kandahar, Omar was educated at local '' ma ...

due to his extreme behavior. According to the United Nations' list of entities belonging to or associated with the Al-Qaeda organization, he had been the Taliban's Minister of Construction. He was killed by British and German special forces.

Early life

Dadullah belonged to the

tribe of

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

. Educated in a

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, he was a follower of Deobandi Sunni Islam. He lost a leg while fighting with the Afghan mujahideen against

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

in the 1980s.The Taleban's most feared commander

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, May 19, 2006 He eventually got a

prosthetic limb In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

from an hospital in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. He was a member of the Taliban's 10-man leadership council before the US-led invasion in 2001. He was reportedly a close aide to Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban. In 1999–2000, he led the suppression of a revolt by

Hazaras The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scatt ...

Bamyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an al ...

province.The Specter of Mullah Dadullah
, afgha.com June 13, 2006 In January 2001, Dadullah's forces fought a Hazara insurgency in the

Yakaolang Yakawlang (also romanized as Yakaolang) ( fa, یکاولنگ) was a city of 65,000 people (est. 2000) in Yakawlang District, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan. It is the capital of Yakawlang District with an altitude of . It was significantly destr ...

area. On March 10, 2001, he supervised the destruction of the

Buddhas of Bamiyan The Buddhas of Bamiyan (or Bamyan) were two 6th-century monumental statues carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of Hazarajat region in central Afghanistan, northwest of Kabul at an elevation of . Carbon dating of the structural ...

, which had been ordered by Omar. When the Taliban regime fell in December 2001, Dadullah escaped capture by

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

forces in Kunduz province.

Fight post 2001

Rumors that Dadullah may be headed to recapture the city with as many as 8,000 Taliban fighters, following the November 2001

Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif (or Mazar-e-Sharif) in November 2001 resulted from the first major offensive of the Afghanistan War after American intervention. A push into the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province by the United Islamic Front ...

, a thousand American ground forces were airlifted into the city. He allegedly participated (by giving orders via cell phone) in the murder of Ricardo Munguia on March 27, 2003. In 2005 he was sentenced ''in absentia'' to life in prison, along with three others, by

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

for the attempted murder of a member of Pakistan's parliament, Muhammad Khan Sherani of the

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) also Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Urdu: ; ; JUI-F) is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the result o ...

party. Sherani, an opponent of the Taliban, survived an IED attack in his home constituency of

in November, 2004.Fugitive Taleban leader sentenced
''

'', December 29, 2005 A "Western intelligence source" claimed Dadullah may have been operating out of

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

, Pakistan.Across the border from Britain's troops, Taliban rises again
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', May 27, 2006 Others, including the Pakistani government, claimed he was operating near

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

, Afghanistan. In 2006, he claimed to have 12,000 men and to control 20 districts in the former Taliban heartland in the southern provinces of Kandahar,

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...

and Orūzgān.Afghanistan: Taleban's second coming

, June 2, 2006 Dadullah had reportedly been a central figure in the recruitment of Pakistani nationals to the Taliban and was also one of the main Taliban spokesmen, frequently meeting with Al-Jazeera television reporters.Captured Taliban leader appears on Al-Jazeera
''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

'', May 29, 2006 In the summer of 2006, he was reportedly sent by Omar to

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and ...

to convince local Pashtun insurgents to agree to a truce with Pakistan.Omar role in truce reinforces fears that Pakistan 'caved in' to Taliban
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', September 24, 2006 In October 2006 it was rumoredTaliban Rising
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'', October 12, 2006 that the Afghan government was considering giving control of its defense ministry over to Dadullah as part of a reconciliation plan with the Taliban to stop the ongoing insurgency. Dadullah was linked to massacres of Shi'a, the scorched earth policy of Shi'a villages in 2001 (which he boasted about once on the radio), and the summary execution of men suspected of throwing hand grenades into his compound in 2001 (they were hanged at one of the main roundabouts). According to an interview he gave to the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life

Fight post 2001

Death

See also

References