Afghan Biographies

National Uprise Movement NUM


Name National Uprise Movement NUM
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background
History and Biodata

Background:

Names of NUM members:
Andar district is predominantly populated by the Andar tribe.

‘Hezbi Taleban’ in Andar, two brothers, Rahmatullah, 35, and Abdul Malek, 26, rose to prominence due to their active participation in the fighting shortly after they joined the movement in 2007. Rahmatullah was detained by the US military in early 2008 and freed in late 2009. Rahmatullah remained with the Taleban, although not whole-heartedly, until around late 2011. In early 2012, he started to recruit and rearm some of his old subordinates, plus several new ones, in defiance of the Taleban’s ban on him being militarily active.

The fighters in Andar now call themselves Da Milli Patsun Ghorzang (the National Uprising Movement) – ‘national’ in reference to its Afghan (versus ‘foreign Taleban’) character. It is said to have 400 fighters supplied by ex-governor Faizanullah Faizan, who claims it is operating under his supervision and who frequently visits his men there. Lutfullah Kamran, too, who has led the ‘rebels’ in some of their skirmishes, has claimed in the media to be their leader.

More Background:
The since May2012 much trumpeted National Uprise Movement NUM in Ghazni is a deception and it is in fact a secretly US (Embassy) and Kabul (through Asadullah Khaled) supported militia in Ghazni Province. Daud Sultanzoi, a former member of parliament from Ghazni, believes the movement is wary to confess in public its support from the government for fear that it could damage its legitimacy and its standing as a grass-roots movement.

What needs to be understood about Ghazni practically, is that there are quite a few pockets of people who have no interest in either the Taliban or the government running things, and they’d like to go back to running things themselves. Add to this the fact that some of these rebels are former Taliban fighters themselves, and you’ve got a pretty heady recipe for some disasters ahead.

Taliban say a local militia, supported by the Afghan government and foreign troops, was behind the uprising.

There are strong indications that different approaches in the insurgency, basically a Hezb-Taleban conflict, are behind it, and that government officials have actively promoted the ‘uprising’ and taken it out of the hands of its initiators.

Khial Muhammad Hussaini, who had previously been Qari Baba’s right hand man, clearly pointed to a Hezb involvement in the Andar incidents. In a harshly worded statement emailed to journalists on 1 June 2012, he said that: ‘New conspiracies are underway in the district by enemies of our people that is from one side the Taleban… and from the other side, blood-thirsty and dollar-hungry Hezb-e-Islami circles operating in the shape of arbakai and created by some foreign and internal elements. They have started assassinating our jihadi commanders and tribal elders.’

What further strengthens the notion that it was a Hezb confrontation with the Taleban based on their different approaches and doctrines of jihad in the beginning are statements issued by the insurgent branch of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb weeks after the first skirmishes took place. The statements in Hekmatyar’s ‘jihadi media’ outlets clearly supported what it called Hezb-e Islami mujahedin battling their enemy in Andar.

Last Modified 2012-08-24
Established 2012-08-24