General Abdul Rashid Dostum, Uzbek Warlord, Now ‘Marshal of Afghanistan’
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani conferred the title of ‘Marshal of Afghanistan’ on General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the former first vice president of Afghanistan, Khaama Press Afghanistan reported.
The Office of the President in a statement said President Ghani issued a decree in this regard late last month.
According to a copy of the decree which has been published online, President Ghani approved the conferment of the Marshal title on Gen. Dostum as per the Article 19 and Item 64 of the constitution of Afghanistan.
The decree further added that the title on Gen. Dostum has been conferred for his services in resolving the political stalemates and ensuring security in the country.
The issue of conferment of Marshal title remained a hot topic during the negotiations to resolve political tensions which arose following 2019 controversial presidential elections.
The former first vice president Mohammad Qasim Fahim was previously holding the title of the Marshal of Afghanistan.
- Khaama PressThe Khaama Press News Agency is the leading and largest English news service for Afghanistan
Dostrum survives two assassination attempts Afghanistan’s controversial Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has escaped unhurt from a suspected Taliban attack that killed one of his bodyguards, police said according to an RFE report
“A regional police spokesman said attackers ambushed Dostum’s convoy on March 30, 2019, on the way from Mazar-e Sharif, a city in Balkh Province, to Jawzjan Province in northern Afghanistan.
“Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor of Balkh, said that Taliban militants attacked the convoy at two points, in the Char Bolak and then Faiz Abad district.
A statement by Afghanistan’s army says four Taliban were killed, and seven others wounded, during the two assaults.
On Twitter, a Taliban spokesman said its militants had carried out the attack and claimed four of Dostum’s bodyguards had been killed.
The apparent assassination attempt on Dostum comes eight months after the ethnic Uzbek former warlord avoided injury in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport.
That attack, which was claimed by Islamic State, took place as he returned home from more than a year in exile in Turkey after he was accused of being involved in the rape and torture of a political rival. Dostum denied the charges. RFE reporting 2019.
In 2016, Dostum, then vice president, was accused of kidnapping, torturing and raping ex-Jawzjan governor Ahmad Ishchi, a political rival, with a rifle barrel.
At the time, Ghani forced Dostum into exile in Turkey.
Dostum returned to Afghanistan in July 2018 and settled in Jawzjan after huge numbers of people demonstrated in his favor in several provinces, RFE