Back عبد الرشيد دوستم Arabic عبد الرشيد دوستم ARZ Əbdül Rəşid Dostum Azerbaijani عبدالرشید دوستوم AZB Абдул-Рашыд Дустум Byelorussian Abdul Rašíd Dóstum Czech Abdul Raschid Dostum German Abdul Rashid Dostum Spanish عبدالرشید دوستم Persian Abdul Rashid Dostum Finnish

Abdul Rashid Dostum

Abdul Rashid Dostum
عبدالرشید دوستم
Photograph of Abdul Rashid Dostum wearing a black suit with a lapel pin, white shirt, and necktie
Dostum in September 2014
First Vice President of Afghanistan
In office
29 September 2014 – 19 February 2020
PresidentAshraf Ghani
Preceded byYunus Qanuni
Succeeded byAmrullah Saleh
Personal details
Born (1954-03-25) 25 March 1954 (age 70)[1]
Khwaja Du Koh, Jowzjan, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Political partyPDPA (until 1992)
Junbish-e Milli (from 1992)
NationalityAfghan
NicknamePasha (پاشا)
Military service
AllegianceAfghanistan
Branch/service
Years of service1976–2021
Rank Marshal
Unit
  • 2nd Infantry Division
    • 444th Commando Battalion
  • 6th Corps
CommandsJunbish-e Milli
Battles/wars
See battles

Soviet–Afghan War

Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Abdul Rashid Dostum (/ˈɑːbdəl rəˈʃiːd doʊˈstuːm/ AHB-dəl rə-SHEED doh-STOOM; Dari: عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: Abdurrashid Do'stum, Uzbek Cyrillic: Абдуррашид Дўстум, IPA: [ˈæbdurræˈʃid dosˈtum]; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan warlord, exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish-e Milli. Dostum was a major army commander in the communist government during the Soviet–Afghan War, initially part of the Afghan Commando Forces, and in 2001 was a key indigenous ally[2] to U.S. Special Forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple the Taliban government. He is one of the most powerful warlords since the beginning of the Afghan wars,[3] known for siding with winners during different wars.[4] Dostum has also referred to as a kingmaker due to his significant role in Afghan politics.[5]

An ethnic Uzbek from a peasant family in Jawzjan province, Dostum joined the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) as a teenager before enlisting in the Afghan National Army and training as a paratrooper, serving in his native region around Sheberghan. Soon with the start of the Soviet–Afghan War, Dostum commanded a KHAD militia and eventually gained a reputation, often defeating mujahideen commanders in northern Afghanistan and even persuading some to defect to the communist cause. Much of the country's north was in strong government control as a result. He achieved several promotions in the army and was honored as a "Hero of Afghanistan" by President Mohammed Najibullah in 1988.[6] By this time he was commanding up to 45,000 troops in the region under his responsibility.[7]

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Dostum played a central role in the collapse of Najibullah's government by "defecting" to the mujahideen; the division-sized[7] loyal forces he commanded in the north became an independent paramilitary of his newly founded party called Junbish-e Milli.[6] He allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud and together they captured Kabul, before another civil war loomed.[8] Initially supporting the new government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, he switched sides in 1994 by allying with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but he backed Rabbani again by 1996. During this time he remained in control of the country's north which functioned as a relatively stable proto-state, but remained a loose partner of Massoud in the Northern Alliance. A year later, Mazar-i-Sharif was overrun by his former aide Abdul Malik Pahlawan, resulting in a battle in which he regained control. In 1998, the city was overrun by the Taliban and Dostum fled the country until returning to Afghanistan in 2001, joining the Northern Alliance forces after the US invasion and leading his loyal faction in the Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif.[8]

After the fall of the Taliban, he joined interim president Hamid Karzai's administration as Deputy Defense Minister and later served as chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Afghan Army, a role often viewed as ceremonial.[9] His militia feuded with forces loyal to general Atta Muhammad Nur.[10] Dostum was a candidate in the 2004 elections, and was an ally of victorious Karzai in the 2009 elections. From 2011, he was part of the leadership council of the National Front of Afghanistan along with Ahmad Zia Massoud and Mohammad Mohaqiq. He served as Vice President of Afghanistan in Ashraf Ghani's administration from 2014 to 2020. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of marshal after a political agreement between Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.[11]

Dostum is a controversial figure in Afghanistan.[12][13] He is seen as a capable and fierce military leader[14] and remains wildly popular among the Uzbek community in the country.[15] Many of his supporters call him "Pasha" (پاشا), an honorable Uzbek/Turkic term.[8] However, he has also been widely accused of committing atrocities and war crimes, most notoriously the suffocation of up to 1,000 Taliban fighters in the Dasht-i-Leili massacre, and he was widely feared among the populace.[16][17][18] In 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was reported to be considering launching an inquiry into whether Dostum had engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan.[19]

  1. ^ "Big fish among the Afghan warlords". The Washington Times. 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2012. Gen. Dostum, 54
  2. ^ Harnden 2021, p. 54.
  3. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz (2 March 2005). "Afghanistan: Powerful Commander Gets High-Ranking Military Post". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  4. ^ Partlow, Joshua (23 April 2014). "He was America's man in Afghanistan. Then things went sour. Now Abdurrashid Dostum may be back". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  5. ^ "The Return of the Kingmaker: Afghanistan's General Dostum Ends his Exile".
  6. ^ a b Riedel, Bruce (30 November 2001). "The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt from Bruce Riedel's 'What We Won'". Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b Hwang, Benjamin E. (2007). Understanding Warlordism (Thesis). Naval Postgraduate School. hdl:10945/3592. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Cockburn, Patrick (1 December 2001). "Rashid Dostum: The treacherous general". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021.
  9. ^ Pugliese, David (10 May 2007). "Former Afghan warlord says he can defeat Taliban". CanWest News Service. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Factional Fighting Escalates in Afghanistan". Voice of America. 9 October 2003. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021.
  11. ^ Ansar, Massoud (8 June 2020). "Sources Report Rift over Marshal Rank for Dostum". TOLOnews. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  12. ^ Putz, Catherine (13 July 2017). "Kabul's Dostum Problem". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Profile: General Rashid Dostum". BBC News. 25 September 2001. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  14. ^ Schlichte, Klaus (10 August 2009). "With the State against the State? The Formation of Armed Groups". Contemporary Security Policy. 30 (2): 246–264. doi:10.1080/13523260903059799.
  15. ^ MacKenzie, Jean (17 July 2009). "Hero on horseback, or mass murderer?". The World. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  16. ^ Mashal, Mujib (16 May 2020). "Afghan Power-Sharing Deal Would Promote General Accused of Rape". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Afghanistan's most feared warlord says sorry to victims of conflict". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  18. ^ Shariff, Omar (3 April 2014). "Afghanistan's most feared warlord". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  19. ^ "International Criminal Court judges consider Afghanistan war crimes inquiry". BBC News. 2 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.

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