Word: rebels
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...differences proved stronger than the new need for common cause. Negotiations were frustrated from the outset when the tough but relatively small Afghanistan National Liberation Front, led by stern Sigbatullah Mujaddadi, balked at sitting down with the others for fear of having to cede authority to larger groups. Other rebel factions soon fell out over ideological differences...
...high-flying U.S. espionage planes have all, at one time or another, made use of Peshawar's strategic semidesert location at the base of the Khyber Pass. Today Peshawar, which is only 34 miles from the Afghan border, has become the principal bivouac and nerve center for Afghan rebels who have crossed the border to escape the invading Soviet troops. Last week, after a visit to the city-whose population of 300,000 has been swollen by thousands of refugees-TIME Correspondent David DeVoss filed this report: There are at least 60 different rebel factions fighting in Afghanistan. Nearly...
When the bullets run out, he will return to Peshawar to scrape up some more. Men like Janeb Gul are driven by a profound spirit of tribal vengeance that is almost as old as the Hindu Kush. Unfortunately, that same spirit has also kept the rebels from working well together. Liberation fronts and organizations for Afghan unity dissolve as quickly as they are formed. Intertribal conflicts are equally intense. One rebel leader is notorious for eliminating rivals by sending them on deadly undercover missions to Kabul. Complains the Pakistani director of the Commission for Afghan Refugees: "Everyone claims...
...power grab by Gailani for leadership of the insurgents would be challenged-probably without much success -by at least two other rebel leaders. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, 32, an engineer who studied at Kabul University, is highly regarded for his administrative skills. But his base of support, an organization called Hezb-i-Islami, may be too rigidly Muslim in outlook for some rebels. Another Muslim group, Jamiat-i-Islami, is led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, 40, a former professor of religion at Kabul University. Although Jamiat is considered more tolerant than Hekmatyar's group, Rabbani has no personal following outside...
...three of these groups have had trouble supplying the rebels in the field, who send back tortuously written pleas for help signed with dozens of thumbprints. One of the saddest realities about the battle is the insurgents' inability to cope with equipment. Although rebel groups have captured Soviet-built tanks, howitzers and even some helicopters, the machinery goes unused because most of the tribesmen do not have the training to operate anything more sophisticated than a bolt-action rifle. Nonetheless, the righteous tenacity of a thousand blood feuds persists. "I am just a mountain man who acts according...