Brutal war crimes of the Taliban

Sunday Times:

FIRST the traitor was hanged, then his head was cut off and finally the Taliban placed it on a road at the point where it enters Musa Qala.

“They killed him at 3am and left his head there for everyone to see,” said Gul Wali, 14. “They killed both traitors and thieves. The traitors were giving secrets to the enemy.”

Three others were hanged in the town. One was left strung up at a different entrance, one from a monument in the centre and the third in the bazaar.

Wali’s description, confirmed by other witnesses, added to an emerging picture of the brutal rule imposed by the Taliban in this strategic town in Helmand province after they seized control last February.

Residents trickling back after British, American and Afghan troops retook it last week said the Taliban had banned smoking and the use of snuff, and had beaten and thrown into jail those they disliked. Some said the Taliban had extorted money to fund their jihad against the Afghan government and Nato forces.

...

Residents who had come back said they had been hiding in the nearby desert with their families. Speaking at a checkpoint where returners were searched for weapons, Mahmoud, 18, said there had been no school in the town for months. When the Taliban arrived they turned it into a religious madrasah and their headquarters. “No one sent their kids to the school because they were afraid the Americans would drop bombs and everyone would be killed,” he said.

Mohamed Anwar, 20, a doctor’s son, said his family’s pharmacy had been destroyed by an American bomb but he was glad to see the back of the Taliban. “I was put in jail when I wouldn’t give them money, and they tortured me by pouring cold water on me morning and night,” he said.

Meanwhile, a British-led search operation was finding evidence of the key role Musa Qala played in the Taliban’s insurgency. Moving from one walled compound to another, Afghan troops and their British mentors found not only a network of air raid shelters and carefully dug trenches, but well established factories for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), deadly roadside bombs.

In one compound, there were piles of components: explosives extracted from mortar shells or artillery rounds, detonators and pressure pads made from saw blades, wood and rubber that could be hidden under the road.

...

The scale of the drug production illustrates the problems that lie ahead for the British. “All the families here grow opium,” said one father of two children. “We bribed the Taliban so they would let us do our business. All the people from all over Helmand brought their poppies here to process.”

...

Many of the returning people evidently support the Taliban and the drug trade. Winning their hearts and minds will not be cheap. The irrigation to grow the poppies is paid for by the sell of the dope. Selling other crops would evidently not support the cost of fuel for irrigation pumps.

The good news is that the Taliban were not able to hold their sanctuary in Afghanistan and it appears the Afghans and the Brits are going to keep them from coming back. While our forces are digging in for a counterattack, I suspect the Taliban will not even attempt that this winter. My speculation is that they have headed for Pakistan where the army is putting pressure on their allies.