- SHAH JOY, Afghanistan
-- The intimidation tactics are simple, if horribly brutal.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "In the Dai Chopan district there are reports of
Punjabi commanders," Gen. Khan said.
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- "We arrested two [Taliban members] a month ago and
they told us Pakistani colonels told them to destabilize Afghanistan."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.'."
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- "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?'."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- "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."
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Reserved.
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