NYT : A Would-Be Warlord Is Given Short Shrift by New Rulers

A NATION CHALLENGED: DISSENSION; A Would-Be Warlord Is Given Short Shrift by New Rulers

By CARLOTTA GALL | December 16, 2001

Northern Alliance soldiers forced Sayed Jaffar, the would-be governor of Baghlan province, to flee his home here and take to the mountains with his men.

Mr. Jaffar, 35, the American-educated son of a family that has traditionally held the governorship, tried to take the city of Pul-i-Khumri by force on Wednesday but was quickly repulsed by Northern Alliance troops in charge of the town.

A combined force of Tajik soldiers and Pashtun former Taliban fighters who have joined the Northern Alliance pursued him, hilltop by hilltop, from Pul-i-Khumri, to his home village here.

They rode up the mountain paths in pickups, swinging their legs and weapons over the side, hauling up anti-aircraft guns and multiple rocket launchers on heavy military trucks.

The Northern Alliance and the government in Kabul have acted firmly against Mr. Jaffar's attempts to win power by force. They have accused the United States of assisting him and calling in airstrikes against them on Wednesday during his attack on Pul-i-Khumri, an accusation the United States has denied.

Mr. Jaffar does not present a great military threat. The son of the feudal and spiritual leader of Afghanistan's Ismaili sect, an offshoot of the Shiite branch of Islam, he is no battle-hardened warlord and his bid for more power has been swiftly crushed. An alliance defense ministry representative, Mohammed Farid, said the government would not tolerate any action by individuals who tried to take power by force. He said the government was determined to establish security for all citizens. ''Fighting is not the way, and we will not allow it to start again,'' he said.

By afternoon, after a barrage of shells battered the hills around him, Mr. Jaffar and his cousin, Harun, the commander of some of his troops, offered to surrender, contacting the Northern Alliance general, Khalil Anderabi, by walkie-talkie.

''I am not a Talib, why are you fighting with me?'' Harun complained over the handset.

Standing on a hilltop just a mile from Kayan, General Anderabi took the call in front of his soldiers. ''I know you are not a Talib but you wanted to come with a thousand men to attack Pul-i-Khumri,'' he replied.

Harun vowed that his cousin had not intended to attack the town, only to meet and talk. General Anderabi called on them both to surrender. ''We are brothers, dear Harun, and close friends. We should stop fighting and solve this by negotiations.''

Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Jaffar came on the line and agreed to surrender, asking that Northern Alliance soldiers not enter his village. But as he began to lay down conditions, the negotiations broke down and the Northern Alliance resumed their shelling.

Soldiers listening in on their walkie-talkies caught Mr. Jaffar ordering his men to pull out of the village and head for the mountains. He asked one of his commanders for a donkey for the trip. Northern Alliance soldiers laughingly broke in and said they would provide a donkey.

Gen. Atiqullah Baryalai, an alliance deputy defense minister, said tonight he hoped to negotiate with Mr. Jaffar and end the dispute peacefully. He mentioned the possibility of providing a helicopter to get Mr. Jaffar out of the area.

Four men fighting for Mr. Jaffar, who were taken prisoner and held briefly. said they had been paid to join his force and move on Pul-i-Khumri.

''He said we would go as peacekeepers, that we would go to ensure security for the people,'' said Nurullah, 24, who was wounded in the arm. The four were disarmed and then released quickly.