Tajik Commander Sees Protracted War in Afghanistan

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 25, 2001

Tajik Commander Sees Protracted War in Afghanistan

The fighting in Afghanistan would persist for a long time, especially in the regions south of Kandahar as Taliban forces are likely to wage a guerrilla war, said a high-ranking officer of Tajikistan's elite special forces Saturday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Major General Sukhrob Kasilov, commander of the Operations Brigade of the Interior Ministry's Special Forces, said Taliban forces retreated to the mountainous regions in a bid to preserve their effective forces in face of the fierce U.S. bombing campaign.

It would be very difficult for American forces to fight alone inside Afghanistan, said Kasilov in his office at a training base in the mountains about seven kilometers north of the capital.

He warned that the presence of foreign troops inside Afghanistan would lead to unfavorable scenarios as the people of Afghanistan have never allowed foreign troops to stay on their territory.

Kasilov, 40, was a teacher before joining the military in 1992 at the start of Tajikistan's civil war. In 1998, he foiled a military mutiny in northern Tajikistan in just three days, and was awarded a Jaguar car by President Emomali Rakhmonov.

The commander said almost all the problems in Tajikistan are linked to neighboring Afghanistan, such as Islamic extremism and drug trafficking. He said Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network were also involved in the five-year civil war in Tajikistan.

Once the Afghan problem is successfully settled, all the woes facing Tajikistan would also be easier to tackle, he added.

The general, who studied special education at Moscow's Lenin Teachers' College, believes the key to winning any war is people, rather than hardware, especially in mountainous terrains, although his 3,000-strong troops are also undergoing training in high-tech fields.

More than 90 percent of the officers of his brigade were trained in Russia, including in information warfare, the general said.

The brigade has two MiG-8 and three MiG-24 helicopters and more than 100 tanks and armored vehicles at its disposal, which can be dispatched to any place inside Tajikistan within three to four hours at the order of the president, he said.

Among other things, Kasilov trains his troops through past failures such as those recorded during the civil war and in Afghanistan, and gives special attention to discipline.

"Discipline, discipline and discipline," he stressed, echoing one of the slogans on the billboards near the barracks: "Without discipline, the army will be non-existent. Discipline is the soul of the army."

The general, who was wounded in the right leg during the civil war, is highly respected at the base, from Afghan war veterans to the newly recruited.

At his order, a group of special forces showcased their newly mastered kungfu routines, and then several armored vehicles roared across the training grounds, whipping up dusts against the backdrop of smoke billowing from a bonfire lit up just a while ago.

He told visitors that the brigade will stage major maneuvers early next month and more of his troops' skills and armor will be at display then.

As visitors waved good-bye, another group of soldiers were seen climbing the mountain to the east of the ridge, possibly heading to one of the many mountaintop training grounds about 3,000 meters above sea level.

In the distance, about a dozen horses could be seen grazing. They are part of the Special Forces' fleet of some 100 horses to be used for fighting in places difficult to be reached by motorized vehicles.

Russia to Link Military Aid With Afghan Political Situation: Ambassador

Putin: Russia to Take Part in Rescue Operation in Afghanistan

Tajik Sources Confirm Death of Bin Laden's 2nd Self