The Original Insurgent

Along the mountainous, 2,600-km span of the Durand Line—the porous border separating Afghanistan and Pakistan—a notorious jihadi is on the loose. He is responsible for guerrilla attacks, sabotage and cruel executions; his religious fanaticism inspires multitudes and threatens to destabilize much of Southwest Asia. Thousands of Western soldiers desperately search for the renegade terrorist in inhospitable terrain. But each time they have him cornered, he and his militia slip away into hidden valleys and caves.

No, this has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden but with Mirza Ali Khan, a Pashtun holy man who revolted against the...

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