Afghan Biographies

Mullah Dadullah Front


Name Mullah Dadullah Front
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background
History and Biodata

Mahaaz-e-Dadullah Mahaz-e Mullah Dadullah:
Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor was named leader of the Taliban faction known as Mahaaz-e-Dadullah. The meeting in Zabul was attended by tribal and religious leaders, as well as the group's local commanders. He is the nephew of Mullah Mansoor Dadullah who was killed in Khak-e-Afghan district of Zabul 2015, fighting with rival Taliban. Before Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was killed in Zabul, the founder of the group, Mullah Dadullah, was also killed in an ambush, possibly by one of his bodyguards in southern Helmand province. He was also an uncle of the newly named leader. (20160816)

Deputy to the leader of new splinter group “Dadullah Mahaz”:

Mawlawi Nematullah Samim (20160818)

Background:
The Mullah Dadullah Front a  new, more radical insurgent group has begun a campaign aimed at terrorizing both Afghan officials and moderate insurgents. Calling itself the Mullah Dadullah Front, after a Taliban commander who was killed in 2007 in a joint operation, people claiming to represent the group have in recent days (20120519) sent text messages and made telephone calls to numerous members of the Afghan Parliament, threatening them with suicide attacks if they vote to ratify the strategic partnership agreement between Afghanistan and the United States.

The group also claimed responsibility for the assassination of a former Taliban minister, Mullah Arsala Rahmani in May 2012. After the Dadullah Front claimed responsibility for it, the Taliban responded that there was no such organization affiliated with the Taliban, and suggested that the Dadullah Front had actually been created by Afghan intelligence. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the attacks claimed by the Dadullah Group were really the work of one man.

NDS announced on May 19, 2012 that it had arrested three members of the front in Kabul. The alleged members, who are in custody, were reportedly in possession of several suicide vests.

Analysts consider the Dadullah Front to be a "hard-core" offshoot within the larger Taliban movement.It is unclear how numerically strong the Dadullah Front is, but  the group has recently expanded its sphere of influence to the southeastern provinces of Zabul and Ghazni, in addition to the southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan.(20120523)

More Background:
Mullah Dadullah was a commander in Helmand Province who was accused of ordering the beheading of a hostage when negotiations for the release of Taliban prisoners broke down. He is also blamed for carrying out particularly bloody massacres in Bamyan Province.

Last Modified 2016-08-18
Established 2012-05-20