Eastern Shura Explained

Regional and tribal Afghan leaders rose up and formed an alliance known as the Eastern Shura to oust the Taliban in Khowst Province and Nangarhar Province, during the War in Afghanistan.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Mary Anne Weaver, writing in The New York Times on the fourth anniversary of al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001, described the formation of the Eastern Shura as the result of surrender negotiations on November 13, 2001, between Mohammad Yunus Khalis and Osama bin Laden.

Eastern Shura leaders

name	notes
	Former governor of Nangarhar Province, prior to the Taliban regime. Close ties to the family of Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. Went to the Bonn Conference to endorse the choice of Hamid Karzai as leader of the Afghan Transitional Administration. Assassinated in July 2002.
	Based in Towr Kham, a small town, in Nangarhar Province, on the border with Pakistan. Speculation links him to the drug trade, and to bribes that enabled Al-Qaeda and the Taliban's leadership to escape Tora Bora. Reported to have allowed Osama bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora.^[5]
	A local leader of an anti-Taliban militia, from Sorubi, set up a provisional government in Nangarhar Province on November 16, 2001, after the Taliban retreated.^[6] The two other leaders in the provisional government were Hazrati Ali from Towr Kham and Mawlawi Mohammad Yunus Khalis from the Provincial capital, Jalalabad.
	The Shura's "Defense Chief".^[7] ^[8] ^[9] Hamid Karzai appointed Zaman Deputy Chief of Police for Nangarhar Province.^[10]
	Brought 120 fighters to the alliance.^[11]
	Reported to have allowed Osama bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora. Reported to have been "lured from exile" in France, by the USA.
	The Eastern Shura's "Intelligence Chief".
	Lead one of the pincer movements intended to capture Osama bin Laden as he escaped from Tora Bora in December 2001.^[12] Had authority in Noorgal, Kunar.^[13]

Notes and References

1. News: Taking a spin in Tora Bora. https://web.archive.org/web/20011221070455/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CL07Ag02.html. December 21, 2001. Asia Times. Pepe Escobar. Pepe Escobar. December 7, 2001. 2022-02-22. The Eastern Shura – which comprises the provisional governments of Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Kapisa provinces....
2. News: Lost at Tora Bora. The New York Times. 2005-09-11. Mary Anne Weaver. 2010-05-12. The last time bin Laden was seen in Jalalabad was the evening of Nov. 13, when he, along with Khalis's son, Mujahid Ullah, and other tribal leaders negotiated a peaceful hand-over of power from the Taliban to a caretaker government. Under its terms, Khalis would take temporary control of the city until the formation of a newly appointed U.S.-backed government. He, of course, made certain that the Eastern Shura, as the government is called, was stacked with men who owed their loyalty to him. Hajji Abdul Qadir, his former military commander, became Nangarhar Province's governor again..
3. News: Where's Osama? Bush doesn't care. Do we?. Boise Weekly. 2005-06-08. Ted Rall. 2010-05-12. U.S. state-controlled media put bin Laden in a redoubt in the mountains of Tora Bora, a stone's throw west of the Khyber Pass, in mid-November 2001. According to this official account, corrupt Eastern Shura militia let bin Laden and hundreds of other al-Qaeda fighters escape. "There were only 21 bedraggled al-Qaeda fighters who were taken prisoners," writes The Christian Science Monitor.. 2012-03-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310165657/http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/wheres-osama/Content?oid=922560. dead.
4. Web site: Afghanistan: Current Issues and U.S. Policy. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055703/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-binGetTRDoc?AD=ADA472897&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. dead. March 4, 2016. Congressional Research Service. 2003-10-07. Kenneth Katzman. No clear leader, following death of Abdul Qadir; Qadir's son appointed Jalalabad governor after Qadir's death..
5. News: How bin Laden got away: A day-by-day account of how Osama bin Laden eluded the world's most powerful military machine. The Christian Science Monitor. Philip Smucker. Philip Smucker. 2008-09-08.
6. News: A NATION CHALLENGED: AFGHANISTAN REDUX; Warlord Rule Is Re-emerging In Some Towns. The New York Times. David Rohde. November 16, 2001. 2008-02-19. The third arrived from Sorubi, where Ezatullah, a local commander with only one name, has created his own fief.. David Rohde.
7. News: Battle for Mountains Will Be Tough. Fox News. December 9, 2001. 2008-05-20.
8. News: Bin Laden Believed to be in Tora Bora. CNN. 2001-11-29.
9. News: Pashtun leaders meet in Pakistan: Exiled commander urges fight against Taliban. San Francisco Chronicle. Rone Tempest. October 19, 2001. 2008-05-17.
10. News: 2 Soldiers Killed by Afghan Roadside Bomb. The Washington Post. Amir Shah. June 6, 2006. 2008-05-20.
11. News: Taliban likely preparing for guerrilla war. St Petersburg Times. October 21, 2001. 2008-05-20.
12. News: Al Qaeda's Forces Flee Higher in Mountains. https://archive.today/20130131173614/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/94309803.html?dids=94309803:94309803&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+11,+2001&author=Susan+B.+Glasser&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Al+Qaeda's+Forces+Flee+Higher+in+Mountains&pqatl=google. dead. January 31, 2013. The Washington Post. Susan B. Glasser. 2001-12-11. A01. 2010-05-12.
13. Web site: [{{DoD detainees ARB|ARB_Transcript_Set_9_21017-21351.pdf#311}} Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings for ISN 948 ]. United States Department of Defense. 2005-11-28. OARDEC. 2010-05-12. The weapons I had were for a group of people in the Noorgal government, Gulan, Said Jalal and Haji Kornai. I gave them back these weapons. These three commanders are supporting the American Forces and they are working with them in Jalalabad.. 311–321. fast mirror