Word: dostum
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Time for Plan B. The first major ground battle, near Mazar-i-Sharif, took place last Monday, when hundreds of Northern Alliance troops serving under two commanders, Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum and Tajik general Mullah Ustad Mohammed Atta, swept toward the city and the 20,000 entrenched Taliban troops protecting it. The Alliance forces advanced to within 12 miles of Mazar, but a fierce Taliban counterattack led to savage street battles; Alliance forces managed to hold their front line but failed to advance much further. It's unlikely that the Alliance will march on Mazar anytime soon. The Taliban...
...restore the Tajik-led government overthrown by the Taliban in 1996. "Pakistan is against such development of the events, as well the U.S.A., due to the efforts of which the split within the anti-Taliban coalition started," Pravda reports. "The United States promised its support to General Rashid Dostum (originates from Uzbekistan). The situation was very intense - on the edge of the armed conflict between the Tajik and Uzbek wings of the alliance." Moscow may want its own troops to reinforce the Tajiks - something it believes the U.S. won't match for the Uzbeks. "Therefore, we have a race," warns...
...transition plan is riddled with perils. The relationship between the United Front and the exiled king has the look of a forced marriage, and even within the UF itself some key players are as renowned for their treachery as for their fighting ability. The fearsome Uzbek leader, General Rashid Dostum, for example, has switched sides more than once over the past decade. And the authority of a monarch not seen in Afghanistan in 28 years (most of the fighters were not born when he went into exile) may not amount to much as old foes and their regional sponsors square...