-Caveat Lector-
October 1, 2001
Dogs set ablaze as warning to Taleban's opposition
Afghan refugees describe campaign of terror
Julius Strauss
The Daily Telegraph
DASHTI QALA, AFGHANISTAN - The Taleban herded the population of the
war-ravaged northern town of Taleqan into its main square. Then
they began parading three dogs.
Each had a shaved head stencilled with the names of the men the
movement most despised: Burhunnadin Rabbani, the ousted Afghan
president, Zahir Shah, the exiled king, and George W. Bush,
President of the United States.
Then they poured gasoline on the dogs and set fire to them.
Noor Muhammad, a proud 52-year-old farmer from a nearby village,
was among the witnesses. Muhammad Qul, 55, and Abdul Karim, 48,
were also there.
The three men sat in a refugee camp yesterday surrounded by a
sprawling dust plain in opposition-held territory a few kilometres
from the front line. They had arrived only hours before after an
overnight escape.
The three men and their families are the victims of the latest
Taleban terror campaign.
Facing the prospect of a pulverizing Western bombing campaign that
may oust them from power, the fundamentalist rulers of Afghanistan
are exacting a terrible revenge against those they suspect of
disloyalty.
The burning of the dogs 10 days ago was only meant to serve as a
warning.
Last Friday, at midday prayers, the Taleban struck a second, more
telling blow against the local population.
First they surrounded the mosque with soldiers.
Then a Taleban agent was sent to accompany the mullah to say
prayers.
"The mullah told all the men to fight for Islam," Noor Muhammad
said. "Then he asked for volunteers. We all put our hands up. We
were very scared and thought we would be taken to prison or shot
otherwise."
On Saturday night, a truck came into the village carrying a dozen
Taleban soldiers who began knocking on doors looking for young men.
Where they found no men, they started looting. The victims were
told they should already have sold their possessions and given the
money to Islam.
"They said we should fight the Americans who want to take away
Islam," Noor Muhammad said. "Then they began burning the houses
where they couldn't find young men. They must have burned down 10
or 20 of the 200 houses in the village."
For those who signed up, fate was little better. Each was given a
gun and assigned a commander. They were then driven or marched off
to collection points to prepare to fight the Americans.
When the first strikes come, the unwilling volunteers will be on
the front line.
Noor Muhammad decided to flee with his family. Late Saturday night,
his and two other families set off into the mountains.
"We knew some sympathizers of the Northern Alliance," he said.
"They guided us by moonlight between the Taleban and the
minefields."
As he surveyed his new home yesterday, he looked harried. Some
refugees have been in the camp for a year.
Muhammad Nazar, an 80-year-old neighbour in the camp with a hoarse
voice and receding gums, came as close as an Afghan does to
pleading.
"When are you going to bomb the Taleban? We are waiting and
waiting."
Five days ago, Taleban soldiers burst into Muhammad's house in
Taleqan. When he refused to say where his sons were, they took his
rugs and family valuables and then set fire to the building.
"They wanted our sons to fight against the Americans," he said.
"But when are the Americans going to strike back?"
War against the Taleban is the last hope for the thousands of
refugees in Dashti Qala camp, surely one of the world's most bleak.
In summer, temperatures soar to nearly 50C. In winter, they hover
at around 10C.
Last winter, residents say 40 of their number died of cold.
Most of the aid agencies that feed them have now left.
"It's more than three weeks since they last got food," said John
Weaver, a U.S. aid worker who decided to stay despite the risks.
In the baking dust yesterday, Qazi Gul, 70, showed her home for the
last year. It is a ragged khaki-coloured tent about one metre by
three. She shares it with five others.
The area is without road or rail and travellers must make tortuous
journeys on dangerous mountain roads. Most northern Afghans drive
battered Russian jeeps at breakneck speed. There are no traffic
lights, speed limits, drivers' licences or number plates.
Taleban-held territory by contrast has roads, infrastructure,
electricity and even internal scheduled flights, luxuries
unimaginable in the territory of the Northern Alliance.
National Post Online is a Hollinger / CanWest Publication.
================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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