Afghan Warlord Boasts On How They Defeated The Taliban Once U.S. Forces Left

AFP: Afghan strongmen tame Taliban bastion where US struggled

A captured Taliban rifle dangling at his side, commander Sultan Mohammed swaggers through a bomb-cratered district that was once a hornet's nest of insurgents, symbolising a rare Afghan military triumph where US forces failed.

Panjwai was one of the centrepieces of US President Barack Obama's 2009 troop surge ambitiously aimed at crushing the Taliban, but the southern district soon became a poster child of the failed intervention.

Strongmen including Mohammed, the Panjwai police chief with a reputation for brutality, in recent years did what the Americans could not -- tame the insurgent haven that had come to be known as the "blood fountain".

The Taliban are now out of sight in the district in Kandahar, pomegranate orchards stand on fields once awash with landmines, and poppy farms that boosted militant coffers are just a memory.

"When US forces were here, the Taliban were within one kilometre of their bases. Now they aren't even within 100 kilometres," Mohammed said, trailed by armed loyalists.

"We did what American soldiers could not -- rid the area of the Taliban."

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WNU Editor: The Panjwai district has always been a hotbed for the Taliban insurgency .... but having a brutal warlord in charge to keep the peace is probably not sustainable. On a surprise note, this Afghan Taliban leader wants to join the peace process .... Veteran Afghan insurgent leader says he will join peace talks (Washington Post).