Trio of warlords blamed for surge in Afghanistan violence

The three men, who sometimes cooperate with one another, work largely unhindered from bases in Pakistan. U.S. strikes against them have proved futile.
By Greg Miller
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

10:56 PM PDT, September 30, 2008

WASHINGTON — The escalating insurgency in Afghanistan is being spearheaded by a trio of warlords who came to prominence in the CIA-backed war to oust the Soviets but who now direct attacks against U.S. forces from havens in Pakistan, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Militant groups led by the three veteran mujahedin are behind a sharp increase this year in the number and sophistication of attacks in Afghanistan and pose a major challenge to President Bush's hope of stabilizing the country by deploying thousands of additional troops.

Despite a flurry of U.S. airstrikes against their organizations and million-dollar bounties on their heads, the Pashtun chieftains have been able to operate, and even expand their networks, largely unmolested from bases spread along the border with Pakistan.

U.S. intelligence officials have lamented the difficulty of tracking down Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But the hunt for the three warlords has in some ways been even more frustrating, in part because of their often high-profile roles in directing operations against U.S.-led military forces and other Western targets in Afghanistan.

Because of their battle experience and credentials, the warlords "play both an operational role and a psychological role," said a senior Bush administration official involved in tracking the insurgency.

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