Category: Quetta Shura

Qari Muhammad Isma’il al-Sirajji has for a number of years led the Mujahideen in Jowzjan province in northern Afghanistan. He belongs to the Turkoman tribe and was born 45 years ago in the Aqcha district of Jowzjan province in a family known for its love of Deen and Jihad. He memorized the Book of Allah Almighty in his youth, then continued his Shari’ah studies later.
During the days of the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, he held a number of important, military positions. After the American attack on Afghanistan, he was among the first to revive the Jihad and resistance against the aggressor Crusaders.
In the beginning, he undertook secret operations in the Aqcha district, then he expanded the scope of his operations. Finally, he was appointed by the Islamic Emirate to be the general official for Jihad affairs in Jowzjan province. Al-Somood has conducted an interview with him concerning the Jihadist situation in this province. We invite you to read it.
Question: To start, we would like for you to provide our readers with brief information about Jowzjan province.
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: Praise be to Allah alone. Prayers and peace upon the Seal of the Prophets.
Thereafter:
First of all, I wish to thank you for you giving us this opportunity to share through the pages of your magazine our situation and our concern with our Faithful people and Muslims throughout the Islamic world. May Allah accept from you your good services.
To answer your question, Jowzjan province is a small province in the north of Afghanistan bordered by the Mazar-i-Sharif, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul. It is also adjacent to the Republic of Turkmenistan to the north.
The people of this province speak Uzbek, Pashtu and Farsi . It is, like other provinces, known in history as a center of knowledge and culture. This province is composed of eight districts with a population of half a million people.
Question: You mentioned that this province has eight districts. Do you have units in all districts of the province?
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: Our formations have not expanded to all districts of the province, but they have covered most of its areas. Its Jihadist capabilities now extend to five districts almost entirely with the exception of their district centers: Darzab, Qush Tepah, Khawajah Du Koh, Aqcha.
As for the other three districts, the Mujahideen there conduct a type of guerrilla warfare there and have great influence in the region and enjoy popular support by their side. For example, the districts situated 25km south of the province center of Shebergan like Jarqadaq, from Qush Tepah to Darzab, all of them fall under the control of the Mujahideen.
It is not possible for the enemy to enter these areas unless accompanied by a large escort of tanks and air support.
These areas are considered as permanently secure areas for the Mujahideen and the enemy has not been able to take control of them despite repeated operations.
Question: The local press recently reported talk of government attempts to regain this area. The lackey government has acknowledged Mujahideen control over this area. What were the results of those operations?
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: Those fronts which include the areas of Darzab, Qush Tepah and other mountain areas are located between the province center Shebergan and between the provinces of Sar-e-Pol and Faryab.
To its north are the central fronts of Jowzjan province. In its southwest is the Bilchiragh district of Faryab province. In the southeast is the Sayyad district of Sar-e-Pol province and these last two are under the control of the Mujahideen.
Thus these areas comprise a vast common area for the Mujahideen in these three northern provinces, from where they launch operations against the enemy.
In view of the strategic importance of this region, a month and half ago the enemy launched its attack on the area from Shebergan, Sar-e-Pul and Faryab. The goal of the attack was to clear the region of the Mujahideen or weaken their forces there. The Crusader enemy as well as the lackey army directed huge forces there of tanks and aircraft. Nonetheless, through the grace of Allah, they encountered a shocking defeat and fled from the region after sustaining huge losses.
The reason for the enemy’s defeat, after Allah’s support for the Mujahideen, was the solidarity of the people with the Mujahideen and the presence of a joint combat front for the Mujahideen in these three northern provinces. Beyond that, the area is remote and very large. The enemy was therefore unable to overcome the Mujahideen there.
During this operation, the enemy had created an air base in the al-Arab village in Qush Tepah district. A few days after the end of this large operation, the Mujahideen conducted attacks against it, burning an enemy “Ranger” troop transport and killing a number of soldiers on board. The result of this was that the enemy withdrew from the region and it reverted to Mujahideen control.
Question: Could you briefly mention to us the latest operations you have conducted in Jowzjan?
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: Thus far there have not been many operations conducted, because the operational season just began anew. The season and the weather conditions were not favorable for Mujahideen because of the snow and extreme cold. Nonetheless, the Mujahideen have recently conducted some operations. On one day the Mujahideen blew up two enemy transports using land mines in the area between Jarqadaq and Qush Tepah.
Likewise the Mujahideen attacked the district center of Jarqadaq, burned the district headquarters and inflicted losses on the soldiers. Moreover, I mentioned to you the large operation in which the enemy attacked our area a month and a half ago. During it, the Mujahideen destroyed enemy tanks and infantry with landmines planted on the roads. Perhaps you read about it on the al-Emarah website.
Also, the Mujahideen two days ago blew up a Ranger transport belonging to enemy security forces in the Darzab district. There are also other incidents which I cannot readily recall at this time.
Question: There are some questions which enemy rumors have planted in the minds of some people about the reality of the Jihad, to the effect that the fighting in Afghanistan is due to ethno-linguistic struggles rather than a religious obligation and national responsibility which every Muslim citizen must perform. You have assumed responsibility for a province in which there lives a mix of different ethnic groups, composed of a population that is 40% Uzbek, 28% Turkoman and 18% Pushtun and the rest are either Arab or Tajik and others. So what is your assessment of the participation in Jihad by the different ethnic groups indigenous to this province? What is your response to the claims of the enemy being disseminated by the media with the intention of the dividing our Faithful people?
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: This is a good question. I believe that our Jihad movement has sprung from the depths of our Faithful people and I have witnessed this in the different Afghan provinces. This represents the solidarity of our Faithful people in the matter of national unity towards a religious obligation. As for the number of Mujahideen, this is based on the majority living in any given area. In those areas with a Pushtun majority, there are a large number of Pushtun Mujahideen. In those areas with an Uzbek or Turkoman majority, there are a large number of Uzbek or Turkoman Mujahideen, and so forth.
For example, Jowzjan province has an Uzbek and Turkoman majority. I am a Turkoman and my deputy, brother Mullah Shamsullah, is an Uzbek. The officials for Qush Tepah and Darzab are also Uzbeks. The number of Pushtuns in this province are few, so naturally the number of Pushtun (Mujahideen) is also few. They have only one group in Qush Tepah.
This, however, does not imply the Mujahideen are divided by national or ethnic groups. We are all brothers in Allah. We live together and cooperate as affectionate brothers protected by Allah Almighty. Our grasp of the meaning of brotherhood in Islam prevents the Mujahideen from being motivated by ethnic chauvinism or affected by the toxic rumors of the enemy.
Question: There has been a big problem for some time against the Jihad and the Mujahideen in Jowzjan province with the former Communist General Dostum and his militias. How do you assess the situation now? Is it a situation that may constitute an obstacle to the Mujahideen?
Qari Muhammad Isma’il: General Dostum had influence and importance in the past. But his influence, both in the time of the Russians and in the time of the Americans, was dependent upon the enemy force. He had no acceptance among the people. Because of the vicious crimes committed by him, and by his leaders and his militias and because of his acceptance of servitude to the aggressor Americans , he lost his influence among the people and has been transformed into a hated person, loathed by the Faithful people in this province and its districts. This, however, does not mean that he does have supporters from among those like him in Shebergan.
He has no supporters in the provinces. Evidence of this is the fact that his birthplace of Khawajah Du Koh is among the areas where the Mujahideen have a presence, and the residents stand with them. As for (Dostum), he can’t even imagine to go there.
One of the most important commanders was this Communist general Haja Nakur, who was recently appointed by the lackey government as the official in charge of the new militia units in this province.

Once again reports have appeared in the media, following the previous rumors that the Kabul regime is going to sign Afghanistan’s strategic agreement with America. Karzai, Head of the Kabul Puppet Regime disclosed this in his recent assertions that he would convene a Loya Jirgah ( a grand tribal council) to endorse a long-term partnership with America, apparently in an effort to give legality to the agreement.
In fact, Karzai’s utterance is a repeat of the remarks of American rulers who sometimes ago said that they wanted establishment of permanent bases in Afghanistan. However, Karzai being aware of the mentality of the Afghan people,  wants to sell it (the idea of establishment of permanent bases) to the Afghans under a relatively misleading title of Strategic Partnership.

We believe, the Americans want to have the Jirgah convened by their puppets to approve the strategic agreement, since they have already failed in their endeavor to maintain occupation of Afghanistan. Thus, the Americans are trying to pave the way for their long-term presence, establishment of permanent (military) garrisons and maintenance of the occupation of the country. Therefore, we can say the newly-started hot discussion is no more than shackles aimed at depriving the believing Afghan people of independence and Afghanistan of its valor and pride and ultimately, aimed at subjugating the Afghans. Every effort must be made to comprehend this and prevent it from being implemented.
Certainly, occupation of a country or a given people and, for that matter, unlawful presence of troops on a soil, be it for a short period, has no justification whatsoever, under any human law. Therefore, the same naturally applies to a deal, trading on the independence of a people for a long period or in that context, usurping a land is never acceptable.
We believe this is not only a disservice to the Afghan people but also not tolerable at regional and world’s level. We would like to remind the Afghan people as regards this conspiracy to understand the sensitivity and dept of the matter. The Americans have a plan up their sleeves, intending to include our Muslim people and the proud country in the list of their banana republics and colonies. On the one hand, this is a mockery against our Islamic tenets and national values. On the other hand, it will leave, in the long term, a destructive impact on all aspects including the political, religious, cultural and other facets of the country. The Afghan people should stand firmly and bravely against the endorsement of the strategic agreement by the Jirgah. They ought to realize the planners, campaigners, participants and helpers of the Jirgah as historical traitors of the sacred religion and country and should fulfill their religious and national obligation in this regard.
All the countries of the world and the region better understand the meaning of freedom and slavery. They should thwart this hatch-up treason which is now in the making against the Afghan people. No law, whether a Divine or human, allows them to remain a mere spectators while this shameful deal morphs into its climax.
The occupation of Afghanistan and the presence of American permanent bases here will have its direct (negative) effect on the regional stability and the equilibrium of the situation.
We all know, Afghanistan is not the only target of the Americans but they want to use this country as a springboard, intending to extend their colonial tentacles at the region after securing their feet in Afghanistan. Thenceforth, they would pose threats to their regional rivals. Similarly, governments of the Islamic World, universal organizations and the UNO should not remain silent as regards this issue. They should not allow the Americans conspiracy about the permanent occupation of Afghanistan, a free country, take shape.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this new plot, hatched and worked out by the enemy. The Islamic Emirate reminds the rulers of the Kabul Puppet Regime that you will never be able to change the fate of independence of the proud nation by launching these efforts. You should know that, aforetime, the British puppets and the communist surrogates of the former Soviet Union did plunge into these endeavors but yielded nothing except humiliation and historical stigma. (This time too) the nation and history will write you down as national traitors.

Recently, a new increase has been noticed in civilian’s casualties at the hands of the invaders and their surrogates in different regions of Afghanistan, occurred as a result of blind bombardment, night raids, pointblank firing and other various attacks and brutalities. A great number of civilian Afghans fall prey to these atrocities on day to day basis.
From the beginning of the current year, Americans have martyred and wounded a great number of innocent Afghans in Helmand, Kahdahar, Kunduz, Kunar, Laghman, Khust provinces and other areas of the country during operations and attacks. On 18 February last, Americans martyred more than 100 civilians , many of them children, in Ghazi Abad , Kunar province as a result of a brutal bombardment. A few days after the event, the Americans repeated the crime in Manugai district of the province by killing nine innocent children. Similarly, Americans nights raids and bombardment have been continuing in most parts of south, east-south and far-flung eastern regions of the country, causing high civilian casualties every day. Unfortunately, even 10% of the casualties are not reported in the media. Below, we are going to mention some of the casualties that have been reported in the media:
January:
On January 2, during American aerial bombardment in Shal area of Asmar district, Kunar province, two children including a women were martyred while on January 8, three civilians martyred in Tary area, Manugai district, Kunar province as a result of bombardment. On January 16, four civilians lost their lives during aerial bombardment in Juzareen village, Tangai Dara, Sayed Abad district, Maidan Wardack province. Similarly, on 24 January, in Pulle Alam area of Logar province; two of our common countrymen were martyred in a mountain when they were busy extracting construction stones.
February:
On February 4, the invaders martyred two civilians in Lalpura district, Nangarhar province and on 6 February, four civilians were martyred in Khakraze district, Kahdahar province. On February 8 , in Gerishk district, Helmand province, four civilians were martyred while on 9 February, two commoners fell victim in Andar district, Ghazni province. on February 9 , six common Afghans were martyred in Musa Kala district, Helmand province. On February 16, four members of a family including the father Haji Abdul Khaliq and his three sons were martyred in Navi district of Helmand province. On February 21, six civilians were martyred in Khugiani district, Nengarhar province while on 23 February, three common Afghans were martyred in Marja district, Helmand province. On 24 February, five civilians lost their lives at the hand of the enemy in Allah Sai district, Kapisa province.
March:

On March 5, the invaders martyred three civilians in Jaga Kalla village Nader Shah Kut district of Khust province and detained nine other villagers. On March 8, the invaders martyred two commoners in Kharutu village, Charkh district, Logar province. In addition to this, about 52 civilians were killed by the invaders in different villages of Sangin district, Helmand province during night raids and bombardment. On 10 March, they martyred 3 civilians in Sangisar area, Zery district, Kandhar province. On 15 March, two civilians were martyred by the enemy in Chawki district, Kunar province. On March 16 the invaders martyred 15 civilians including women and children in Shaigal district, Kunar province. On 24 March, they martyred 5 common Afghans in Marja, Helmand province. On 27 March, the invaders attacked a passenger’s bus in Nawzad district, Helmand province, martyring 7 passengers and injuring 8 others. On 29 March, they martyred four civilians in Gushtipa district, Jouzjan province.
Recently, as the people took to the streets in different cities of the country, following the burning of the Glorious Quran by an American pastor, the enemy found a (new) chance to avenge themselves on the civilians. The enemy troops, mercilessly and repeatedly opened fire on the defenseless civilians in Mazari Sharif, Kandahar and other cities of the country, martyring and injuring a great number of civilians.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns this criminal act of the internal and external enemies as regards the civilian Afghans and considers it as a despicable act of violation of human rights.
In view of the above –mentioned realities, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls on the International Community and on human rights watch entities to feel their responsibilities and fully utilize their potential for the protection of the lives of the civilian Afghans.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants to register its protest against the unfair demeanor of the United Nations and the human rights and other organizations which always and solely point their finger to the Mujahideen when it comes to the issue of civilian’s casualties. They should make clear and transparent their stance regarding the genocide now going on at the hands of the enemy and they also should unambiguously condemn these wicked acts
To end, the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan extends their deep condolence to all those Afghans who have lost their nears and dears or have been injured during the recent battles and aerial bombardment of the enemy. May Allah, the Almighty accept in His Sight their martyrdom and injuries and may Allah ( SwT) put an end to the dominance of the invaders and the internal enemy over this soil as soon as possible. Amen.
The Leadership
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

The crime of burning a copy of the Glorious Quran by an American pastor and the silence of America and the United Nations vis-à-vis this crime proves that the pastor of Florida is not alone in this despicable act but all of them are behind this transgression. They are accomplices in the conspiracy of desecration of a Book that 1.5 billions Muslims of the world believe in.
Thousands of American troops have invaded our soil on the bidding of the Church and priests with a task for every soldier to commit desecration of the Glorious Quran which was revealed to the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and other sacred tenets of Islam. These crimes led to circumstances that filled the bowls of patience of the Afghan Muslim people to the brim, compelling them to take to the streets in defense of their religious tenets. They wanted to prove that, at least, they are one voice against the opponents of Islam and Muslims and against the American troops stationed in the country and the crimes of Terry Jones, the pastor of the State of Florida who burnt tens of copies of the Holy Quran, ostensibly in reaction to the 9/11 Event. The Americans have already invaded Afghanistan under the same pretext and shed blood of nearly two hundred thousands innocent Afghans, wrongfully claiming that the Afghans and their soil were involved in the Event.
As the Afghans held demonstrations in defense and protection of their religious values in every part of the country and the foreign and local troops and agents of the American pastors killed or injured nearly two hundred people in Kandahar province, the American rulers and the Security Council UNO, instead of condemning this great human tragedy and soul losses, ironically remained silent. Contrarily, the White House and the Security Council expressed sorrow and concern over the incident in Mazar-i-Sharif where a few foreign nationals had been injured during stone-throwing by the demonstrators at the UNAMA office.
We would like to make it clear to the Security Council and to the White House that had you not overlooked the event of the desecration and burning of the Holy Quran and condemned the crime of the pastor at the time in strong terms and respected the feelings of the 1.5 billions Muslims, the attack on UNAMA office in Mazari Sharif would not have happened, nor the brave citizens of Kandahar would have come forward to come to the street and lose their lives.
To end , we emphasize if the double standard policy of the Security Council and their indifference and hostility as regards the Islamic sacrosanct continue unabatedly; if they continue the military invasions of the Islamic countries and lands; if they violate the Islamic values and continue to intentionally commit blasphemy against the Holy prophet and the Divine Book, then the Muslims, particularly, the Afghans would have to resort to some other options for the defense of their religious sanctity and national pride.
Then, the responsibility of any consequences will solely rest with those who stand now shoulder to shoulder with the pastors; support them and interpret the Charter of the United Nations and other laws in a way to tilt to their favor.
_____

NOTE: On March 31, the Ṭālibān also released a statement regarding Terry Jones burning the Qur’ān, which you can read here.
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Two week ago, an ignorant American pastor, Terry Jones, set fire to pages and a copy of the Holy Quran in Florida. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemned this despicable act in clear words after the incident. It was most appropriate for the American government and the world, as a whole, that they should have assumed a united stance against this abhorrent action and indicated that it was a clear violation of the belief of 1.5 billion inhabitants (Muslims) of the world and should have called for a harsh punishment for the perpetrators. But the American rulers and a number of other governments of the world neither showed any strong reaction nor condemned this wicked act openly. Rather they defended the blasphemy under the so-called freedom of speech and belief.
The Afghan believing and Mujahid people, as a committed and pious nation, consider it their legitimate right to defend their belief and sacncrosant and lay down their lives in the way of its cause. Similarly, the Afghans have seen the invading forces, committing desecration of the Holy Quran in prisons and during house searching time and again. However, the recent incident of the burring of the Holy Quran has caused great pain to the Afghans. Therefore, as a last option of solution, they resorted to launching demonstrations and protests, causing small and vast demonstrations to be taken out in all parts of the country from the north to the south of the country. The demonstrations  are still going on.
The Afghan people in the last few days showed that they would never remain indifferent as regards their sacrosanct but are ready to offer every sacrifice in their defense. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers the Islamic enthusiasm, ideological conscience and resurgence shown by the Afghan people, as a matter of pride and satisfaction and commends the efforts made and the sacrifices offered in the cause of the Holy Quran. The Islamic Emirate, meanwhile, condemns the conduct of the police force of the Kabul Puppet Administration with the common people during the recent demonstrations.
Two days ago in Balkh province and yesterday in Kandahar city, police opened fire at the defenseless demonstrator’s pointblank, at the bidding of their foreign masters. As a result, many of our countrymen were either martyred or injured. The common people and journalists, who were present at the spot, witnessed this abhorrent act of police with their own eyes. The police claimed that there were armed opposition members among the demonstrators. However, there is not an iota of truth in the claim. Contrarily, this brutal act on the part of the domestic hirelings further unveiled their real feature and people came to know that the so-called Afghan national army and police will  obviously choose the side of the crusaders whenever a clash occurs between the Muslims and the crusaders.
We are of the opinion that the Americans intentionally wanted to cause pain and agony to the hearts of the believing people by opting to burn the Holy Quran. Now they are bent on martyring the brave Afghans who have risen in support of the Holy Quran and thus want to give full vent to their feeling of failure and humiliation at the battle field by avenging themselves on the Afghans. However, they should know, their despicable and inhumane action will yield them nothing. But rather it will cause awakening in the Islamic Ummah, particularly, among the Afghan miserable people, so they would plainly identify the enemies of their sacrosanct and values and their surrogates and confront them with strong determination, prudence and planning.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan