Word: mirwali
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...Mirwali invited us to lunch, for which we thanked him but declined. We were about to leave, wondering whether it was safe to go on without more troops, when we decided upon one last ploy. We caught Mirwali in his garden. One of our fixers implored him to help, playing on his sense of honor: "These men are journalists, they work for no nation," he told Mirwali. "They want to tell the world what is here. They are working for you. If something happens to them, it will bring shame to us." Amazingly, Mirwali seemed moved. He nodded in agreement...
...drove into the desert. Seven of Mirwali's soldiers lead the way, packed into a silver 4x4; five in the cabin, two in the back with a dozen rocket propelled grenades and two PK light machine guns. There is no trail across the vast, rocky plains, just tire tracks splicing in and out of a weave heading north. For almost three hours and 40 miles we followed the mujahedin through choking dust. Rows of mountain ridges rose on the horizon like broken witches' teeth. From time to time we came to tiny settlements; the houses sealed behind mud brick walls...
...Malim Mirwali is like no other Afghan I have met. His shoulders are thick like heavy sacks of flour, his chest broader than a 40-gallon drum. He has pylons for legs. The hand he offered in greeting swallowed mine whole in a fleshy palm, then wrapped it in fingers fat like German sausages. Over his grey kameez and flowing shirt he wore a neat-cut waistcoat. A bushy black beard tumbled from his face. He talked slowly; the same as he moved. "[Helmand] Governor Haji Shir Mohammed and American soldiers have gone on this road to Kajaki [a town...
Rais the Baghran, Helmand's most powerful warlord, and a fearsome Taliban commander said to be sheltering Omar, had agreed to surrender and had relinquished some arms. "Shir Mohammed and the Americans did not trust him," Mirwali continued, "So they asked Rais to go inside Baghran." We asked Mirwali if, as intelligence reports and Kandahar commanders say, Rais was hiding Mullah Omar in his Baghran realm. "This issue is unconfirmed," Mirwali said unhurriedly, though Taliban commanders who withdrew from Gereshk went that way. We told him we wanted to go to Baghran. We asked for soldiers. He shook his head...
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