Taliban Lurches Back
To Power In Afghanistan
By Hamida Ghafour
The Globe and Mail
2-28-4
SHAH JOY, Afghanistan -- The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
A convoy of about 20 Honda motorcycles surrounds a house, looking for
people who support the United States or President Hamid Karzai. If
they find one, they kill him. If not, the householders are beaten to
serve as a warning to others.
In the village of Shah Joy, about 300 kilometres southwest of Kabul,
the return of the Taliban has been swift and harsh, as it is in about
one-third of Afghanistan's southern regions where the ousted regime
has regrouped and is widely thought to be preparing for a spring
offensive against the Karzai government and its U.S. allies.
Even as U.S. and Pakistani forces carry out a major operation against
al-Qaeda supporters to the east, the people of Zabul province have
come under attack by a much more entrenched enemy. According to
officials here, Shah Joy is like 70 per cent of the province - it is
either controlled by supporters of the Taliban or completely lawless.
"They come day and night. They are lying near the mountains and
sometimes even in the mosques," said Haji Mohammed, a 28-year-old
soldier who said his two brothers were severely beaten because he
works for the local government.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted to take them away. But with the
help of the village elders they were released. Since one year I cannot
go home. They would not let me live."
Local military officials believe that 700 Taliban fighters - all
ethnic Pashtuns - have crossed the border from the Pakistani cities of
Peshawar and Quetta, where they are trained and funded. The insurgents
have offered a motorbike, AK-47 assault rifle and satellite telephone
to anyone willing to steal from, rob or bomb a government target. A
successful hit is worth $265,CDN according to military officials.
Killing an enemy comes with a $1,200 bonus.
General Ayoub Khan, the security commander for Zabul, says some of the
Taliban commanders are Pakistani, although it is difficult to confirm
because many extended Pashtun families straddle the border.
"In the Dai Chopan district there are reports of Punjabi commanders,"
Gen. Khan said.
"We arrested two [Taliban members] a month ago and they told us
Pakistani colonels told them to destabilize Afghanistan."
If the Taliban's strategy is to make Zabul too difficult for the
central government and international aid agencies to work in, it has
worked. The situation is so volatile that the United Nations and large
non-government organizations have stopped working in Zabul. According
to local officials, Taliban commanders have also issued death warrants
against any journalist entering the province.
The villagers of Shah Joy, about two-thirds along the only road from
Kabul to the former Taliban base of Kandahar, say they are torn: They
can either support a moderate government struggling to rebuild the
country, or support the Taliban in a bid to survive.
"They are taking advantage of our poverty," Gen. Khan said of the
Taliban. "The administration is weak and incapable of controlling an
area, therefore the local people are not relying on them."
Along the main road through the province, the Taliban have set up
daytime road blocks. They scrutinize vehicles for potential targets to
kill or kidnap. Four engineers working on that road have been
kidnapped, and 15 Afghans working for the central government have been
killed in the past three months.
Mohammed Azghar, a former member of the Taliban who is now a soldier
working for the local government, said that in villages where there
are virtually no jobs, and the grape and almond farms have been turned
to dust by a seven-year drought, the money is tempting.
"I killed two Taliban commanders and they had 200,000 Afghanis
[$6,200] in their pockets and a pistol," he said. "A soldier here does
not make that much money. The commanders distribute the money to
fighters and say, 'Go burn a school, we will give you money. Go rob a
house, we will give you money.'."
Mr. Karzai has replaced Zabul's governor three times in the past 15
months. The previous one survived an assassination attempt at his
home. The current one, Mullah Khail Mohammed Hosani, is a former
Taliban member who is trying to persuade district commissioners allied
to the militants to support the central government instead.
"We are optimistic," he said. "When I met with some tribal leaders
they said they are not against the non-governmental organizations but
against cruel men in the current administration. In the two decades of
war, the government was imposed on the people. I am negotiating with
local communities so we can understand each other."
The Americans, on the other hand, are attempting to win the hearts of
Afghans with the promise of reconstruction. Next month, the military
plans to set up a provincial reconstruction team in Qalat, the local
capital. The unit will consist of up to 100 people and provide
security and aid to rebuild roads, schools and clinics. It is hoped
the team's presence will establish a secure environment, especially in
the remote villages, for other charities to return.
"The key thing is reconstruction," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jim
Ellifrit, the team's commander. "The stories are getting around the
province that Qalat has roads and electricity. When some of those guys
realize the country is progressing and they are being left behind,
they will ask themselves, 'What are we fighting for?'."
The province has been a hotbed of anti-American sentiment since the
Taliban regime collapsed in October of 2001 under heavy U.S. bombing
and advancing forces from the Northern Alliance. Senior Taliban
members are thought to have sought refuge in the mountains that run
from here to the Pakistani tribal areas, where, according to
widespread but unconfirmed reports, Osama bin Laden is hiding along
with his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Zabul's deputy governor, Malawi Mohammed Omar, said the Americans face
a difficult task because they are not talking to the local communities
to find out who is an enemy and who is not. Many Taliban fighters are
from local villages and it is easy for them to hide in homes of
relatives.
"They would not recognize Mullah Omar if he stood in front of them,"
the deputy governor said. "All the Taliban have to do is put down
their gun and say hello - no one would know him. Until the Americans
are on the ground, and negotiating with the local community leaders
and disarming them, they will not win.
"People are too afraid of the Taliban. But they are not optimistic
about the government's future so they support them. If they fight
against the Taliban, they will have nothing."
© 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040228.wtalib28/BNStory/Front/
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| User: "TonyZ2001" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
01 Mar 2004 05:19:36 AM |
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DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque >in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted >to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our >poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
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| User: "DaarkSyde" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
01 Mar 2004 08:18:20 AM |
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On 01 Mar 2004 11:19:36 GMT, (TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque >in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted >to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our >poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
As a matter of fact yes. Beats where your supreme ***** leader Bush
is taking us. Chavez from Venezuala has it right...*****...So now
what, does he attack them too?
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| User: "TonyZ2001" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
02 Mar 2004 10:02:56 AM |
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DaarkSyde >DaarkSyde@everywhere.com
wrote:
tonyz2001@aol.com (TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque >in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted >to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our >poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
As a matter of fact yes.
And once again you show how sick you really are.
Tony
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| User: "DaarkSyde" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
02 Mar 2004 05:15:16 PM |
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On 02 Mar 2004 16:02:56 GMT, (TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde >DaarkSyde@everywhere.com
wrote:
(TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque >in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted >to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our >poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
As a matter of fact yes.
And once again you show how sick you really are.
Tony
If you would have read the full reply instead of what you wanted to
read into it pantyboy you might have a clue what is going on, but alas
I guess you are just too stupid to figure it out.Keep supporting your
terrorist leader there pantyboy, theres a place in hell for you right
beside him.
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| User: "Michael Johnathan McDonald" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
01 Mar 2004 05:33:48 PM |
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DaarkSyde <DaarkSyde@everywhere.com> wrote in message news:<4eh640hc69n78hlt1et8hi6dil9jpa9eo3@4ax.com>...
As a matter of fact yes.
Well, that sure is the darksyde of politics.
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| User: "Steven Douglas" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
02 Mar 2004 12:02:22 PM |
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DaarkSyde <DaarkSyde@everywhere.com> wrote in message news:<4eh640hc69n78hlt1et8hi6dil9jpa9eo3@4ax.com>...
On 01 Mar 2004 11:19:36 GMT, (TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
As a matter of fact yes.
People beaten in a mosque in open daylight, and it makes you happy.
That tells me more than I ever wanted to know about you.
Beats where your supreme ***** leader Bush is taking us.
Chavez from Venezuala has it right
Of course you'd support a brutal and politically unstable leader.
[quote] In oil-rich Venezuela, a volatile leader befriends bad actors
from the Mideast, Colombia, and Cuba, by Linda Robinson, US News &
World Report 06/10/03
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/usn1001
.
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| User: "DaarkSyde" |
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| Title: Re: Taliban back in power |
02 Mar 2004 05:18:48 PM |
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On 2 Mar 2004 10:02:22 -0800, (Steven Douglas)
wrote:
DaarkSyde <DaarkSyde@everywhere.com> wrote in message news:<4eh640hc69n78hlt1et8hi6dil9jpa9eo3@4ax.com>...
On 01 Mar 2004 11:19:36 GMT, (TonyZ2001) wrote:
DaarkSyde
wrote:
The intimidation tactics are simple, if
horribly brutal.
"My brothers were beaten in the mosque in open daylight. Their hands
and feet were tied and the men wanted to take them away.
"They are taking advantage of our poverty,"
Makes you happy?
Tony
As a matter of fact yes.
People beaten in a mosque in open daylight, and it makes you happy.
That tells me more than I ever wanted to know about you.
Beats where your supreme ***** leader Bush is taking us.
Chavez from Venezuala has it right
Of course you'd support a brutal and politically unstable leader.
I support no one but myself. Hell I only make 10 bucks an hour. But I
see you support your leader Butcher Bush and follow his lies so I
guess we shall soon see who the real terrorist supporter is. The hate
for America grows stronger by the minute, do the world a favour and
impeach the puppet Bush and all his cronies befire he takes you to
hell with him.
.
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