Raes Abdul Wahed(also transliterated as Abdul Rais Wahid and Abdul Wahid) is an Afghanwarlord.[1]
According to an article in the May 23, 2002 issue of Time magazine, Wahed was a Taliban commander who surrendered on January 5, 2002. Time reported that Wahed remained at large and in command of his district. Other sources report that Wahed hid Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and enabled his escape.[2][3]
Several Guantanamo detainees were captured following an ambush attempt near the village of Lejay, Afghanistan, described as "Wahed's stronghold".[5]
According to Abdul Bagi, one of the detainees captured following the skirmish on February 10, 2003, Wahed's base was in the neighboring village of Shna, Afghanistan. Bagi said Wahid didn't spend much time in the vicinity of Shna and Lejay, but rather spent most of his time in Kandahar. The Lejay villagers disputed that Wahed was associated with the Taliban. They asserted he had built the fortified compound when the communists had appointed him a regional administrator, and that they all hated him because he had murdered their neighbors and relatives during his time in power, during the Communist regime. They asserted he was from a rival tribe from theirs.
The detainee is identified as joining a 40-man group after the end of the Taliban regime.
A source identified the detainee as part of the 40-man unit. The detainee reports to his cousin who is a sub-commander in the 40-man unit. The 40-man unit is an organization supported by al Qaida.
Alleged to be second in command of the 40-man unit.[9]
Abdul Razzaq Hekmati had an iron-clad alibi. He had been living as a refugee in Iran, receiving a stipend, which was a reward for rescuing three Northern Alliance leaders from a Taliban prison.
A source stated the detainee was also a part of a 40-man training team that taught hand grenade techniques, use of plastic explosives and automobile explosive device use for deployment outside of Afghanistan.[10]
One of the tasks of the 40-man unit was to provide protection to al Qaida for travel in Afghanistan.[11]
^Michael Ware (2002-05-23). "Encountering the Taliban: A TIME correspondent tracks down unrepentant anti-American forces who vow to keep fighting". Time. Archived from the original on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2008-07-30. Although the Kandahar government has made dramatic announcements of Taliban surrenders, many of the trumpeted capitulations have turned out later to have been shams. In Baghran in the southwestern province of Helmand, formidable Taliban General Abdul Wahid, known as Rais the Baghran, was said to have given up around Jan. 5. The next day, TIME met with the resolute Wahid. Most of his arsenal and troops remained intact. To this day he controls the district.
^Shahzada Zulfiqar (February 2002). "The Fall and After". Newsline. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-30. Rais Abdul Wahid, a powerful warlord in Baghran, a Tora Bora like mountainous area, agreed to cooperate in the search in the wake of threats by US forces to bombard the area. The search met with no success and some people believe Rais may have delayed it to give Mullah Omar enough time to get away.. Additional archives: 2007-09-28.
^Victoria Burnett (July 11, 2004). "As a vote nears, Taliban fight on". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2005-03-05. Retrieved 2008-07-30. For example, Afghan officials had intelligence indicating that Akhtar Mohammed Usmani, a former Taliban commander of Kandahar, and Rais Abdul Wahid, who is believed to have sheltered the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, from coalition forces after the Taliban were forced from Kabul, are living in northern Helmand Province and financing their operations through opium, he said.
