How's the War Going? - Afghanistan

Taliban Terrorizing Afghan Civilians, Rights Group Says
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
April 20, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - Following written guidelines that sanction the murder of teachers who teach "contrary to the principles of Islam," the Taliban is terrorizing the civilian population of Afghanistan, who are increasingly facing suicide attacks, abductions and beheadings, according to a human rights group.

The Taliban's military rulebook, known as the Laheya, "confirms a Taliban policy of burning schools, targeting teachers and of restricting the right to education," Amnesty International states in a new report.

"All Afghans with aspirations to educate their daughters and sons within the current state system risk being considered collaborators," it says.

The Taliban, a fundamentalist militia, ruled most of Afghanistan under a strict Islamist code until U.S.-led forces toppled the regime in the aftermath of al Qaeda's attacks on the U.S. in September 2001. The Taliban was sheltering al Qaeda and refused to expel its ally after 9/11.

Remnants of the ousted regime have continued to wreak havoc in the years since, attacking Afghan civilians, representatives of President Hamid Karzai's elected government, and Afghan and coalition forces.

"The Taliban is engaging in a calculated strategy aimed at innocent men, women and children," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International. "They are also trying to intimidate the local population by kidnapping local aid workers, killing teachers and razing schools - tactics clearly endorsed in the Taliban military rulebook."

Among the rules covering education: "True Muslims should apply to study with a religiously trained teacher and study in a mosque or similar institution. Textbooks must come from the period of the jihad or from the Taliban regime. It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels."

And, the rules warn, "If a school fails to heed a warning to close, it must be burned."

According to the report, the Taliban also issued a fatwa or religious edict in December 2005, signed by some 100 religious scholars in Afghanistan, ordering the death of anyone who supports the U.S.-led military mission.

"It says in the fatwa that people should have no sympathy for infidels [unbelievers], they should avoid friendship with them and should also avoid giving them any moral or material support," the report says.

"Government servants are told in the fatwa to quit government service. Anyone who has a father working for the Americans should cut their relations with them and treat them as an enemy because they are favoring the infidels," the report states.

Amnesty said scores of Afghan civilians have been killed by the Taliban over the past two years, apparently branded as spies or collaborators. Those targeted include election candidates, clerics, government administrators, teachers, health workers, and civilians working for aid agencies or for foreign forces.

"War crimes and crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes under international law, and are considered offences against humanity as a whole," the report said. "Bringing perpetrators of these and other serious crimes to justice is therefore the concern and responsibility of the whole international community."

Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Cybercast News Service that the responsibility is not international, but local.

"The question is not how the U.S. can counter the fatwa - it can't - but how are local, respected Afghan religious leaders countering it," she said.

"Various religious leaders denounce Taliban violence and extremism and have issued statements or fatwas to the contrary," Coleman noted.

"But ultimately, this isn't about fatwa hurling -- it's about Taliban using terrorism on local population - in name of Islam - to control territory," she said.

"Polls show the majority of the population does not support Taliban extremism, that they do support education -- including girls' education," Coleman added. "But they live in fear of Taliban violence with no one to protect them - no police, [and] no international security forces."

Under NATO command, some 30,000 troops from 37 countries and 25 Provincial Reconstruction Teams are deployed in Afghanistan.