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INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002148 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (HANDLING INST) 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID AF PAK PTER
SUBJECT: TRIBAL REVOLT AGAINST THE TALIBAN IN NANGAHAR'S 
MAMAND VALLEY 
 
KABUL 00002148  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: PRT and Sub-National Governance Director Valerie C. Fowl 
er for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (S/NF) The Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team 
(PRT) met July 23 with tribal members from Nangarhar's 
Mamand Valley to coordinate support for their recent 
uprising against the Taliban.  The resistance by local 
members of the Shinwar tribe against Taliban insurgents 
represents a new development and an opportunity in the 
troubled border district of Achin.  During the meeting, 
local leaders told us they intended to defend their village 
against a threatened insurgent counter-attack, and that 
they needed more weapons and ammunition.  They also urged 
provincial officials and Coalition Forces to meet with them 
again to discuss a security plan to assist the villagers. 
The July 17 clash between locals from Bagh village in the 
Mamand Valley and the Taliban began as a street argument, 
but spiraled into a full-fledged revolt against 
insurgents.  The resistance against the Taliban in the 
Mamand Valley of Nangarhar is an opportunity which the PRT 
and other Coalition Forces plan to exploit, in an effort to 
widen the gap between the local population and insurgents. 
 
Anti-Taliban Revolt 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) Twenty-five prominent members of the 
Rahimdad Khiel sub-tribe from southern Nangarhar's Mamand 
Valley met July 23 with the PRT, other Coalition Forces, 
and provincial and district officials to discuss recent 
fighting between villagers and insurgents in the strategic 
valley that laces through the Spin Ghar Mountains 
separating Afghanistan from Pakistan.  The PRT called the 
meeting to discuss how the provincial government and 
Coalition Forces could better support the Shinwar tribal 
members in their newfound resistance.  The tribal 
delegation was headed by Malik Niyaz Mohammad, the local 
patron of remote Bagh village, who has a history of 
tolerating and dealing with insurgents, but who led the 
resistance against them in fierce fighting July 17. 
 
A Gap Opens 
----------- 
 
¶3. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) The sudden and unexpected resistance 
by local members of the Shinwar tribe against Taliban 
insurgents, who have been massing in the Mamand Valley in 
recent months, and who had thus far moved relatively freely 
around and through local villages, is a new development in 
the troubled border district of Achin.  The local revolt 
represents what appears to be a schism between the local 
population and insurgents.  Two villagers and at least two 
insurgents - including a Taliban commander - were killed in 
the fighting.  Eleven more insurgents, including at least 
eight from Pakistan, were captured by locals.  Eight were 
turned over to Afghan authorities, but three more are still 
being held by villagers as bargaining chips against the 
11-year-old nephew of Malik Niyaz, who was taken hostage by 
Taliban during the clash, Malik Niyaz told us. 
 
Give Us Weapons 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) During the July 23 meeting, Malik 
Niyaz told the PRT, other Coalition Forces and the Governor's 
representative (Governor Gul Agha Sherzai has been away 
in Kandahar campaigning for President Karzai's re-election) 
thatQhey intended to defend their village against a 
threatened insurgent counter-attack, and that they needed 
more weapons and ammunition.  Note: Coalition Forces do not 
plan to directly provide the villagers with weapons. 
End Note. 
 
¶5. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) On July 22, Taliban spokesman Qari 
Hamza reportedly told Pajhwok Afghan News that their forces 
would avenge their comrades who were killed in the fighting 
in and around Bagh village.  Malik Niyaz told us that a 
local scratch force of 320 young men had taken up defensive 
positions in key areas around the village to protect the 
community.  He complained that Afghan Army and Police - as 
well as Coalition Forces - did not respond in force and in 
a timely manner during the July 17 fighting.  Only three 
police, led by the local police chief, arrived at the 
remote village in time to participate in the fight, he 
said.  During the fighting, Malik Niyaz had requested 
though Afghan security forces that Coalition air power be 
 
KABUL 00002148  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
dispatched to the area.  The Commander of the U.S. Special 
Troops Battalion (STB) explained to him that confusion on 
the ground and the inability to distinguish villagers from 
insurgents made air strikes too dangerous at the time. 
Malik Niyaz accepted the explanation. 
 
¶6. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) Another influential local, Malik 
Kamin Azimi, urged provincial officials and Coalition 
Forces to meet with them again to discuss a security plan 
to assist villagers.  The PRT and STB commanders, as well 
as the Governor's representative, agreed.  The commanders 
of the PRT and Agri-Business Development Team (ADT) also 
agreed to a separate meeting to discuss possible 
development projects for the area, in an effort to show 
villagers the benefits of an effective government. 
 
From Insult to Open War 
----------------------- 
 
¶7. (S/REL NATO, ISAF) By most accounts from those who were 
on the scene, local resistance against insurgents was not 
the result of patriotic Afghans standing up to the enemies 
of their government.  Instead, the clash began when 
insurgents, who were milling around the village, insulted 
Malik Niyaz for hosting his nephew, an Afghan National Army 
(ANA) sergeant who was on leave and staying with him. 
Eight male members of Malik Niyaz' family responded to the 
insult by confronting the insurgents, who included local 
Taliban Commander Mullah Abdul Qayum.  The insurgents 
opened fire, killing two of the eight locals.  Villagers 
immediately responded, opening fire on Qayum and another 
insurgent.  Witnesses said Abdul Qayum was wounded by 
gunfire, then stoned to death by villagers.  Malik Niyaz 
told us he ordered all males in his family to attack the 
insurgents, and they were joined by a reported 5,000 
villagers, who drove the insurgents from the area, he said. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (S/NF) The local uprising against the Taliban in the 
Mamand Valley of Nangarhar is an opportunity.  Over the 
past eight months, the PRT's State Department 
Representative has been meeting regularly with maliks and 
other tribal leaders from isolated mountain villages and 
mountain passes near the Pakistani border to establish 
relationships and promote the district, provincial and 
national government in areas that rarely see the effects of 
state power.  The PRT's State and other representatives 
have also met regularly with family members of insurgents, 
who provide shelter, food and other assistance to 
anti-government forces.  The PRT's goal is to convince, 
cajole, or scare them away from assisting the insurgents, 
and to help them recognize the benefits of siding with the 
Afghan government.  The local resistance against the 
Taliban in the Mamand Valley appears to be spontaneous and 
unrelated to the PRT's outreach efforts, as family, village 
and tribal ties tend to outweigh national loyalty in the 
isolated communities along the Pakistani border. 
Nevertheless, the PRT, STB and ADT are working with the 
provincial government to exploit and widen the gap that 
appears to have opened between the populace and insurgents 
in parts of the Mamand Valley. 
 
¶9. (S/NF) Comment Continued.  After the July 23 meeting, 
the PRT arranged a roundtable discussion on the local 
affiliate of RTA television, which included Malik Niyaz and 
local officials describing their resistance against the 
Taliban in the Mamand Valley.  The program was also 
converted to radio spots, to ensure residents in other 
remote parts of Nangarhar are aware of the example set by 
the Rahimdad Khiel sub-tribe, and encourage others to 
follow suit.  The PRT and STB also plan to coordinate 
closely with provincial and district security officials to 
organize a security plan to support the residents of the 
Mamand Valley against the Taliban.  End Comment. 
 
¶10. (S/NF) TF Mountain Warrior Commander Colonel Randy 
George has reviewed this cable. 
EIKENBERRY