Iranians teach Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers

Shiite faction working with Sunnis on roadside bombs
Publishing Date: 29.04.10 11:52

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By F. Michael Maloof

The Shiite Iranians, who have been the sworn enemy of the Sunni Taliban insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan, now have begun providing the militants in those countries with training in roadside bombs at secret camps in Iran in a joint effort to oust the United States from the region. Taliban commanders say that Iran is training hundreds of insurgents to kill forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, as well as Americans. The training has included mounting intricate ambushes and learning how to place improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, for maximum effect.

Confirmation by Taliban commanders comes even though there have been periodic reports since 2007 of Iranian assistance to the Taliban.

For Iran, there has been a love-hate relationship with the Taliban.

In 1998, the Taliban killed eight Iranian diplomats in the city of Mazari Sharif in northern Afghanistan in what amounted to an ethnic cleansing of Hazara, Tajik and Uzbek male members. The Hazara are a Persian-speaking Shiite ethnic group which was especially targeted.

The incident almost resulted in Iran entering into the conflict against the Taliban. Yet, prior to the 1998 incident, Iran was generally supportive of the "rebel alliance."

The training Iran is conducting now for the Taliban lasts three months with the first month dedicated to convoy ambushes, the second month to planting IEDs and the third month to storming bases and checkpoints.

Shaped-charge IEDs which can direct the blast of the IED at convoys are beginning to show up in Afghanistan, although they have been used extensively in Iraq. Only Iran makes such shaped-charge IEDs.

IEDs are responsible for up to 80 percent of all U.S. and NATO casualties in Afghanistan. Until last year, they were used extensively in northern Afghanistan but now are showing up in greater frequency in the southern part of the country in Helmand province.

In addition to IEDs, Iran is supplying to the Taliban man-portable, low-altitude surface-to-air missiles, armor-piercing bullets, mortars, C-4 plastic explosives and anti-tank mines.

From 1996 to 2001, Iran supported the Northern Alliance, which was allied with the U.S. in going after the Taliban. Today, it is a different story.

"Our religions and histories are different but our target is the same," said one Taliban commander in referring to the differences between the Sunni Taliban and Shiite Iranians. "We both want to kill Americans."

Ironically, the Taliban members are finding it easier to go to Iran for training than to receive training in once-accessible Pakistan where the Pakistani military now hunts insurgents.

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry reinforced the cooperation between Iran and the Taliban, labeling it "disturbing."

"Iran or elements within Iran have provided training assistance and some weapons to the Taliban," he said.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, similarly confirms Iranian assistance with the Taliban insurgents. In an August 2009 assessment, McChrystal also pointed out that Iran is assisting the Kabul government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

While the dual role of Iran in Afghanistan on its face may appear contradictory, that role actually is a "double game," as described recently by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

A step-up in training and logistical support to the Taliban especially against the Americans, may be due to U.S. diplomatic pressure against Iran's nuclear program. Iran also feels threatened by the increasing U.S. military presence on its eastern and western flanks.

Despite U.S. presence and assistance to the Kabul government, the influence of Iran in Afghanistan and the Central Asian region historically goes back more than two millennia.

Today, Iran is the fourth largest source of direct investment in Afghanistan in such sectors as critical infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health care and communications.

Iran also is involved in humanitarian aid, including Afghan educational and cultural development. Because Iran is increasing training for the Taliban, Iran may be able to influence the militant insurgents to allow women to receive an education. At present, radical Taliban insurgent elements are destroying girls' schools and, in one recent case, subjected a school of girls and their teachers to a poison gas attack, although all survived.

Iran also works with the Afghan government in curbing the influx of drugs from Afghanistan, said to be the nexus of transnational drug trafficking, in addition to insurgency and terrorism into South and Central Asia. Iran has a very serious drug problem, with one of the highest rates of drug addiction in the world.

In addition, Tehran also has close ties with the Kabul government, as evidenced by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit in Afghanistan to meet with Karzai. Prior to that meeting, Karzai had visited Tehran.

Iran also maintains close ties with local warlords and tribal leaders especially in Afghanistan's western provinces but generally throughout the country.

Given the influence of Iran in Afghanistan, U.S. officials assess that Iranian assistance to the Taliban may not affect the U.S. mission in the short-term, but it may have an adverse impact in the long-term on the U.S. role there.

One prospect for the U.S. would be to get the Iranians to come up with what amounts to a local solution with the Kabul government.

However, the price for that cooperation may be the lessening of U.S. pressure on the international community to impose stricter sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear development program. Such a prospect could result in a policy conflict with Israel, which has threatened military action against Iran's nuclear facilities if a diplomatic solution isn't reached, and soon.

F. Michael Maloof, a frequent G2B contributor, is a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He can be contacted at mmaloof@wnd.com.
Thanks General Vallely