Kunduz Airlift- A Story of Pakistani Betrayal

10^th November 2001, United States and Northern Alliance Forces were moving in to the Kunduz Province of Afghanistan from all sides. Kunduz was a peaceful town which was witnessing extraordinary activities those days. After the fall of Kabul and Mazar-e- Sharif, most of the senior Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters and their leaders have congregated there which was just a small region in the northern part of Afghanistan.

Soon after the attack of 9/11, American forces have declared a war against terrorism in Afghanistan and their operation Enduring Freedom. In first week of October 2001, they already landed in Afghanistan and started operating. The Northern alliance leaders including Mohammad Daud Daud and Abdul Rashid Dostum have declared that they will deal very harshly with all the Taliban leaders who are not from Afghanistan. They had a valid reason for this. In last, few years of Taliban rule they saw that these foreign people not only get involved in large scale massacre of the innocent Afghani people but also making the region unstable by their involvement in day to day customs of Afghani people. That very day, the small town of Kunduz was having presence of almost 12000-15000 Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters which included some of their very senior leaders too. This terror group was not alone, they had senior ISI officials and large team of Pakistan Army which was closely working with them. The open support of Pak ISI to these groups was well known where they were not only providing arms, ammunition and training but also operating with them on war front disguised as Taliban Fighters. Seeing the pressure of US and Northern Alliance Forces, it was almost clear that Kunduz may fall any time.

The area between Airport road and Kunduz River in the southern part of town was full of the vehicles of these terrorist and they were desperately waiting for someone. There was panic among them. That someone arrived very soon in a Toyota SUV. It was none but a Major General Rank officer of Pakistan ISI dressed up in Salwar kameez and a shawl. He was accompanied by his body guards who were dressed up like Mujahidin’s. He just finished a meeting with the senior leaders of Taliban and AL-Qaeda and tension was visible on his face. He came, called some of the senior commanders and assured them that they are his friends and he will not let his friends get killed or caught by the Americans. People were surprised because it was not possible to shift more than 15000 Mujahidin’s to safer territories in such circumstances. But the general was right in his words. He knew that if any of these senior commanders are caught alive by the Americans, he will spill the beans that the real architect of 9/11 was none but Pakistan. He left for airport and from there took off in his C-130 aircraft back to Rawalpindi, the centre of power for Pakistan government.

The very next day, two transport aircrafts were getting ready at PAF Nur Khan Base at Chaklala near Rawalpindi. They were operated by seasoned and experienced pilots. Onboard were some of the senior ISI commanders who were expected to direct the pilots for their destination. Immediately, they took off to Kunduz in Afghanistan. Another chapter of Pakistani betrayal was about to start.

It was almost dark when these aircrafts landed at the dusty airstrip of Kunduz. Unexpectedly, the airport was full of noise. Many Taliban, Al-Qaeda and ISI officials have arrived there. Immediately some of the ISI officials took the charge of controlling the boarding of these aircrafts. The time was less and task was big. Within next 30-45 minutes both the aircrafts not only refuelled but also took off to another destination which was several hundred kilometres away in Pakistan - a heavenly place called Chitral. That was the only place where US force could have had least doubt of the presence of these fighters.

The Military commanders at Chitral Air base in Pakistan was already aware of the incoming guests. The aircrafts landed, disembarked its passengers and immediately took off to Kunduz again. That night, each of the aircraft made three trips to Kunduz and successfully transported over 500 armed mujahidin’s and their leaders.

The Operation was not yet over. Over next 15 days, this was the daily routine for these two transport aircrafts. Fly to Kunduz, take their friends and drop them in Chitral and to Gilgit which was another beautiful town in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Over 5000 senior leaders of Taliban and Al-Qaeda were transported successfully when the last set of these aircrafts took off from Kunduz on the morning of 25^th November 2001. Rest of the junior fighters were told to disappear in smaller groups and offer no resistance to the incoming forces. Pakistan kept his promise with the Mujahidin’s.

So, when in the evening of 26^th November 2001, American forces entered the town of Kunduz, they captured it with almost no resistance. Things were peaceful in Rawalpindi too where General Parvez Musharraf was having his evening tea peacefully because he knew that the immediate threat is over now. Rarely there are chances that someone will expose his deeds to the world.

Over next few years, these Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters were kept in different Military establishments as guests before sending them in smaller groups to their home bases.

The story of Kunduz Airlift is not imaginary. It was a real operation carried out by Pakistan Army. There have been many schools of thoughts for this. While some of them say that it was a request made by General Musharraf to then Bush Administration towards securing his own government, some say that US Government was completely kept in dark for this operation. There were unconfirmed inputs that one of the so-called state guests of Pakistan who were airlifted from Kunduz was an Emir from Saudi Arabia called Usama ibn Mohammed ibn Awad ibn Ladin. People commonly called him Osama Bin Laden.

References: -

1.     http://www.rediff.com/us/2002/jan/24ny2.htm

2.     https://easterncampaign.com/2007/05/13/revisiting-the-airlift-of-evil-a-blunder-via-pragmatism/

3.     https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/the-getaway-2

4.     https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/kunduz-airlift-the-airlift-of-evil-by-pakistan.213740/

5.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunduz_airlift

6.     http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2006/12/15/more-confirmations-about-the-kunduz-airlift/

7.     https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Kunduz-airlift

8.     Karlekar, Hiranmay (2012). Endgame in Afghanistan: For Whom the Dice Rolls. Sage. p. 206. ISBN 978-8132109747

9.     Hersh, Seymour M. (2005). Chain of Command. Harper Collins. p. 132. ISBN 978-0141020884.

10.   Moran, Michael (2001-11-29). "The 'airlift of evil'". msnbc.com. Retrieved 2008-02-15

11.   BBC News (2011-10-26). "Secret Pakistan: Double Cross". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-11-05

12.    Los Angeles Times (2001-11-26). "Hundreds of Marines Land Near Kandahar; Kunduz Falls". Los Angeles Times.

13.   Sidney Blumenthal (2009-11-28). "U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05766983: "MEMO ON NEW SENATE REPORT ON TORA BORA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE. SID"". Wikileaks. Retrieved 2016-04-07

14.    Rashid, Ahmed (2008). Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. United States: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-01970-0

15.   History Commons (2001-11-25). "Context of "November 14-25, 2001: US Secretly Authorizes Airlift of Pakistani and Taliban Fighters"". History Commons. Retrieved 2011-11-05

16.   George, Marcus (2001-11-26). "Kunduz celebrates end of siege". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-15.

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