Taliban leaders Sunday tossed Abdul Haq's gunshot-riddled, hanged corpse into a grave unbecoming for an Afghan war hero and with him buried western hopes of stirring imminent revolt in Kabul.
The body of the former mujahidin commander feted for humbling the Soviet army was not handed to relatives in Pakistan, as promised, but buried in his Taliban-controlled home village of Surkhrud, east Afghanistan. Mourners at a memorial service in Peshawar, Pakistan, suggested his body was withheld to conceal evidence of torture before his execution on Friday.
Haq was intercepted by Taliban troops after infiltrating Afghanistan last week on a quixotic mission to woo defectors from the Islamist regime and rally support for the exiled king Zahir Shah.
Hours later he was tried and executed in Kabul with two companions.
A Pashtun renowned for courage and integrity, as well as vanity, he was widely considered the best candidate for splitting Pashtun tribes from the Taliban, which is why his death came as a blow to the US-led campaign. "We lost our brother, but our war will persevere," Hajji din Mohammed, Haq's brother, told Afghan opposition leaders at a prayer service at the family compound in Peshawar.
The Taliban had promised to hand over the body but when Haq's brothers went to retrieve it at the border they were told he had been buried in Surkhrud. Relatives will press for it to be exhumed and returned to Pakistan, but some doubted ever seeing it.
"Some are saying he was tortured and so the Taliban do not want anyone to see how this happened," said one mourner.
Hundreds of mujahidin veterans who fought with Haq against the Russians in the 1980s filed into the walled family compound Sunday for condolences and green tea under a marquee. Some blamed the US for not saving him from the ambush 20 miles (32km) inside Afghanistan after he phoned for help. Coordinates from his satellite phone were passed to the CIA, but missiles from an unmanned US drone failed to fend off his attackers.
"We all hate America," said one veteran, Dad Mohammad. "They always want to use us and our people, and then they abandon us."
Haq, 43, quit politics and the region when the victorious mujahidin disintegrated into civil war, but he returned to Pakistan last month convinced he could help form a replacement government in Kabul. As intended, his fate may discourage others from trying similar mission.
One relative said it was too risky even for family members to enter Afghanistan to seek his body's release.
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS