- SHAH JOY -- The Taliban's
intimidation tactics are simple. A convoy of about 20 Honda motorcycles
surrounds a house, looking for people who support America or President
Hamid Karzai.
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- If they find one, they kill him. If not, the householders
are beaten to serve as a warning to others.
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- People in the village of Shah Joy, 180 miles south-west
of Kabul, are torn between supporting a moderate government struggling
to reconstruct the country and supporting the Taliban simply to survive.
It is a common dilemma in about a third of Afghanistan's southern regions,
where the Taliban are regrouping and waiting for the spring to launch attacks
against the central government and its American allies.
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- They are concentrating in the province of Zabul, where
the coalition never managed to root out the extremist movement. About 70
per cent of Zabul is now either controlled by supporters of the Taliban
or completely lawless.
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- "They come day and night. They are lying near the
mountains and sometimes even in the mosques," said Haji Mohammad,
28, a soldier whose two brothers were severely beaten because he works
for the local government. "They 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."
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- On the main road linking the province to Kabul, the Taliban
set up roadblocks in broad daylight and scrutinise vehicles for potential
targets to kill or kidnap.
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- Four engineers working on the main road have been kidnapped
and 15 Afghans working for the central government have been killed in the
last three months. No foreigners venture to the province. Aid workers fled
long ago. It is estimated that about 700 armed Afghan Taliban who are ethnic
Pathans have crossed the border from the Pakistani cities of Peshawar and
Quetta where they are trained and funded.
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- The commanders are offering a motorcycle, an AK47 and
a satellite telephone to anyone willing to rob or bomb a government target.
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- A successful hit is worth £110. Killing an enemy
has an added incentive of a £495 bonus.
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- The strategy appears to be to make Zabul too difficult
to work in, angering the local population and turning support away from
central government to the Taliban. "They are taking advantage of our
poverty," said Gen Ayoub Khan, the security commander for Zabul. "The
administration is weak and incapable of controlling an area, therefore
the local people are not relying on them.
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- "In the Dai Chopan district there are reports of
Punjabi commanders. We arrested two Talibs a month ago and they told us
that Pakistani colonels told them to destabilise Afghanistan."
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- Mohammad Azghar, a former Taliban member now a soldier
working for the local government, said 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.
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- "I killed two Taliban commanders and they had 200,000
Afghanis [£2,500] in their pockets and a pistol," he said.
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- "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'."
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- The Americans are trying to win the hearts of the Afghans
with the promise of reconstruction. Next month, the military will form
in Qalat, the capital, a provincial reconstruction team, quasi-military
units of up to 100 people who provide security and help to rebuild roads,
schools and clinics. It is hoped their presence will also establish a secure
environment, especially in remote villages, for other charities to return.
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- But the deputy governor, Malawi Mohammed Omar, said the
Americans had a difficult task because they were not talking to village
elders willing to co-operate and identify the enemy.
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- "The US would not recognise Mullah Omar if he stood
in front of them," said Mr Omar. "Until the Americans are on
the ground and negotiating with the local community leaders and disarming
them they will not win."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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