| Hazrat Ali | |
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| Residence | Torkham |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Afghanistan |
| Occupation | Militia leader |
| Known for | Allowing Osama bin Laden to escape to Pakistan |
Haji Hazrat Ali is a military commander in eastern Afghanistan.[1] He was born in 1964 and is an ethnic Pashai.
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Hazrat Ali rose to prominence during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. As a commander for Hezb-e Islami Khalis he quickly became an important leader for the Pashai community.
Hazrat Ali has also been described as an Afghan Army commander under the Soviet puppet regime.[2]
During the war against the Taliban, Ali is said to have been aligned with Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Following the fall of the Taliban Ali joined with two other leaders in the Jalalabad-Tora Bora region, Abdul Qadir and Mohammed Zaman to set up the Eastern Shura, a local provisional government. [1] They were early backers of the first post-Taliban President Hamid Karzai.
The Pak Tribune described Ali as a "gangster" during the Fall 2004 Afghan Presidential election.[3]
The Asia Times reports that, after the fall of the Taliban, Ali's troops executed hundreds of captured Arab prisoners with the complicity of U.S. special forces.[4]
The Asia Times also reports that Ali was one of the warlords who allowed Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora.[5]
Hamid Karzai appointed Hazrat Ali as the Jalalabad police chief.
Ali ran for election in the fall of 2005 for election to the Wolesi Jirga. the Afghan Parliament, for a seat from Nangarhar.[3][2] Ali won a seat for Nangrahar province.
Guantanamo detainee Anwar Khan told his Administrative Review Board that he had fought against the Taliban, under the over-all command of Hazrat Ali.[6] He claimed he had been arrested, and sent to Guantanamo when he was stopped at an American checkpoint and the soldiers were confused as to why he was carrying multiple ID cards.
Guantanamo detainee Awal Gul had been worked, reluctantly, for the Taliban, in administrative positions.[7] He told his Tribunal of making multiple attempts to resign from the positions the Taliban had appointed him to. When the Taliban started to fall he took his chance and enlisted in Hazrat Ali's forces. However, a few months later, Ali forced him to surrender him to American forces.
On September 4, 2003 the Christian Science Monitor quoted several Afghan Opium farmers:[8]
- "Hazrat Ali's men gave us money in advance for opium. It is all because of him [Hazrat Ali] that we are living a peaceful and prosperous life."
- "Once, Hazrat Ali's men came to the villagers and told us 'the Americans are really furious [about] the increasing poppy crop, so destroy some of it on the roadside to make Americans feel happy.'"
- "We are not your enemy. We want to see you prosperous so continue your business [of poppy cultivation]."