National Technical Reports Library

The National Technical Information Service acquires, indexes, abstracts, and archives the largest collection of U.S. government-sponsored technical reports in existence. The NTRL offers online, free and open access to these authenticated government technical reports. Technical reports and documents in its repository may be available online for free either from the issuing federal agency, the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Federal Digital System website, or through search engines.

Details

Usama bin Ladin's 'Father Sheikh': Yunus Khalis and the Return of al- Qa'ida's Leadership to Afghanistan.

ADA591596

Publication Date	2013
Personal Author	Bell, K.
Page Count	88
Abstract	The purpose of this report is to shed light on the poorly understood role that Yunus Khalis played in modern Afghan political history. Although he was an author, teacher, and the leader of the Hizb-e Islami (Khalis) mujahidin political party during the Soviet-Afghan War, today Yunus Khalis is most often discussed in the context of his personal relationships with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Usama bin Ladin. There is little doubt that Khalis was on friendly terms with these two men. However, Haqqani had a far more visible effect on the growth of al-Qa'ida than Khalis, and the latter apparently had major political disagreements with Bin Ladin. This report will argue that Yunus Khalis's historical impact is better found in his work as an activist intellectual and his refusal to take sides in the Afghan Civil War than in his relatively peripheral contact with Usama bin Ladin. According to the available sources, Yunus Khalis did not play a major role in the Haqqani Network's diversification as a financial, criminal, and terrorist enterprise, and he also had little direct role in al-Qa'ida's growth after the Battle of Zhawara. Even so, the Khalis biographies fill some of the gaps in other sources about Bin Ladin's arrival in Nangarhar in 1996. This helps pinpoint with increasing confidence the identity of the Afghan mujahidin commanders who were most closely involved in the return of the al-Qa'ida leadership to Afghanistan. Additionally, these biographies offer hitherto unknown details about the history of Khalis's base at Tora Bora and the critical role that Haqqani played in helping Khalis to begin an organized fight against the Soviets.
Keywords	Afghanistan History Interpersonal relations Islam Military commanders Terrorists Ussr Battles Biographies Careers Government(Foreign) Leadership Organizations Pakistan Political parties Saudi arabia Terrorism Warfare Yunus khalis Usama bin ladin Mullah omar Al-qaida Safe havens Al qaeda Afghan-soviet war Hizb-e islami political party Mati'ullah khan Osama bin ladin Battle of zhawara Nangarhar province Islamic political opposition Taliban Northern alliance Khalis colony Engineer mahmud Haji saz nur
Source Agency	Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	92D - Education, Law, & Humanities 92B - Psychology 92E - International Relations 57T - Psychiatry 74G - Military Operations, Strategy, & Tactics
Corporate Authors	Military Academy, West Point, NY. Combating Terrorism Center.
Document Type	Technical Report
Title Note	Research rept.
NTIS Issue Number	201411

Usama bin Ladin's 'Father Sheikh': Yunus Khalis and the Return of al- Qa'ida's Leadership to Afghanistan.

Usama bin Ladin's 'Father Sheikh': Yunus Khalis and the Return of al- Qa'ida's Leadership to Afghanistan.
ADA591596

Publication Date	2013
Personal Author	Bell, K.
Page Count	88
Abstract	The purpose of this report is to shed light on the poorly understood role that Yunus Khalis played in modern Afghan political history. Although he was an author, teacher, and the leader of the Hizb-e Islami (Khalis) mujahidin political party during the Soviet-Afghan War, today Yunus Khalis is most often discussed in the context of his personal relationships with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Usama bin Ladin. There is little doubt that Khalis was on friendly terms with these two men. However, Haqqani had a far more visible effect on the growth of al-Qa'ida than Khalis, and the latter apparently had major political disagreements with Bin Ladin. This report will argue that Yunus Khalis's historical impact is better found in his work as an activist intellectual and his refusal to take sides in the Afghan Civil War than in his relatively peripheral contact with Usama bin Ladin. According to the available sources, Yunus Khalis did not play a major role in the Haqqani Network's diversification as a financial, criminal, and terrorist enterprise, and he also had little direct role in al-Qa'ida's growth after the Battle of Zhawara. Even so, the Khalis biographies fill some of the gaps in other sources about Bin Ladin's arrival in Nangarhar in 1996. This helps pinpoint with increasing confidence the identity of the Afghan mujahidin commanders who were most closely involved in the return of the al-Qa'ida leadership to Afghanistan. Additionally, these biographies offer hitherto unknown details about the history of Khalis's base at Tora Bora and the critical role that Haqqani played in helping Khalis to begin an organized fight against the Soviets.
Keywords	Afghanistan History Interpersonal relations Islam Military commanders Terrorists Ussr Battles Biographies Careers Government(Foreign) Leadership Organizations Pakistan Political parties Saudi arabia Terrorism Warfare Yunus khalis Usama bin ladin Mullah omar Al-qaida Safe havens Al qaeda Afghan-soviet war Hizb-e islami political party Mati'ullah khan Osama bin ladin Battle of zhawara Nangarhar province Islamic political opposition Taliban Northern alliance Khalis colony Engineer mahmud Haji saz nur
Source Agency	Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	92D - Education, Law, & Humanities 92B - Psychology 92E - International Relations 57T - Psychiatry 74G - Military Operations, Strategy, & Tactics
Corporate Authors	Military Academy, West Point, NY. Combating Terrorism Center.
Document Type	Technical Report
Title Note	Research rept.
NTIS Issue Number	201411