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Better paid, better armed, better connected - Taliban rise again
Kandahar under threat, war raging in two provinces and an isolated president. So what went wrong?
Reedi Gul is probably dead now. Two weeks ago masked gunmen abducted the 24-year-old on a lonely mountain road in central Afghanistan. The next day his father, Saleh Gul, received a phone call, and realised he was the real target.
"I am an Afghan Muslim Talib," the voice announced. "If you want to see your son alive, listen carefully."
Three weeks earlier Saleh Gul had been appointed governor of an insurgent-infested district in Ghazni province. The Taliban demanded he quit his job, pay a ransom, attack US forces and assassinate local officials.
Mr Gul paid $2,000 and resigned his position, but refused to kill. "I am not a terrorist," he barked down the phone. So the Taliban added an impossible demand: the freedom of an imprisoned commander.
Last Sunday their deadline passed. "Still no news," the anguished father said four days later. "I think they have killed him by now." Mr Gul's face was lined with worry but his voice rang with anger. "I had warned the government this might happen. I told them Taliban was taking over. Why can't they stop them?"
Read More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1873769,00.html
"I am an Afghan Muslim Talib," the voice announced. "If you want to see your son alive, listen carefully."
Three weeks earlier Saleh Gul had been appointed governor of an insurgent-infested district in Ghazni province. The Taliban demanded he quit his job, pay a ransom, attack US forces and assassinate local officials.
Mr Gul paid $2,000 and resigned his position, but refused to kill. "I am not a terrorist," he barked down the phone. So the Taliban added an impossible demand: the freedom of an imprisoned commander.
Last Sunday their deadline passed. "Still no news," the anguished father said four days later. "I think they have killed him by now." Mr Gul's face was lined with worry but his voice rang with anger. "I had warned the government this might happen. I told them Taliban was taking over. Why can't they stop them?"
Read More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1873769,00.html
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The building in Golestan district, which fell to insurgents after days of fighting, was retaken within hours, police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib said.
It is thought local tribal elders may have helped mediate with the Taleban.
The Farah attack raised fears of a new front opening in the west. Hundreds have been killed in the south and east.
Besieged
Hundreds of heavily-armed Taleban fighters have been involved in this week's violence in Farah province, the authorities say.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5349330.stm