Taliban make themselves at home in Dostum’s mansion
KABUL: Taliban fighters have taken over the glitzy Kabul mansion of one of their fiercest enemies - the warlord and fugitive former vice-president Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Now in the hands of rank and file Taliban fighters, the opulent villa has given the austere Islamists a peek into the lives of Afghanistan’s former rulers, and they say the luxury is the proceeds of years of endemic corruption.
Along an endless corridor with a thick apple-green carpet, a young fighter sleeps slumped on a sofa, his Kalashnikov rifle resting against him, as exotic fish glide above him in one of seven giant tanks.
The fighter is part of the personal security detail of Qari Salahuddin Ayoubi - one of the new regime’s most powerful commanders - who installed his company of 150 men in the mansion on August 15, the day Kabul fell.
The luxury AFP saw on a tour of the mansion would be unimaginable for most ordinary Afghans. Huge glass chandeliers hang in cavernous halls, large soft sofas furnish a maze of lounges and an indoor swimming pool is finished with intricate turquoise tiles. It even boasts a sauna, a Turkish steam bath and a fully equipped gym.
It is an out of this world experience for the new occupants, who for years sacrificed creature comforts for rebellion. But the new head of the household - now the military commander of four provinces - makes it clear his men will not get used to the luxury. “Islam never wants us to have a luxurious life,” Ayoubi told AFP, adding luxury comes in paradise, “the life after death”.
The mansion’s owner, Dostum, is a notorious figure woven into the fabric of Afghanistan’s recent history. A former paratrooper, Communist commander, warlord and vice-president, he weathered over four decades of conflict.
Despite a series of war crimes linked to Dostum’s forces, the former Afghan government hoped his military acumen and seething hatred of the Taliban would help them survive. But his stronghold was overrun and the greying 67-year-old fled across the border to Uzbekistan.