From the
BBC
Four years ago, the Americans claimed victory over the Taliban. But in the past year, the fighting has intensified, producing the worst casualty figures since 2001.
These Taliban fighters must be powered by the all-mighty, to keep the fight going this long.
Well not really.
Flip-
Kate Clark interviews a Taliban member:
The Taliban fighter I met in Zabul agreed to speak if I did not reveal his identity. He says he is 28, although like most Afghans who have lived a hard life, he looks much older.
He has a small frame and a gallows humor. He laughs as he describes facing the most powerful army in the world.
"I'm fighting with a Kalashnikov and an RPG - a rocket propelled grenade launcher," he said. "I'm not trying to take over the country. I am just trying to earn my salary."
Just another day at the office, receive big weapons and blow some stuff up a few days a month and become "Wealthy":
"They gave me a salary, new clothes, shoes, a motorbike and a Kalashnikov rifle. I had to go and fight where they told me for seven or eight days a month."
This was a man who, when the Taliban were in power, fled to Pakistan to avoid conscription. There he worked in the notoriously dangerous coal mines for the equivalent of $2 a day.
After the fall of the Taliban, he returned to scratch out a living on the family plot. When he was offered cash to fight - $300 to join and $150 a month - he took the chance.
With the money, he has rebuilt the family home, got his brother married and fed his family. He has never told anyone that he fights for money, particularly the villagers who support the insurgents, whether willingly or unwillingly.
This probably is just a anomaly, a majority of the others must have a different reasons for fighting right?
The head of an Afghan NGO said he believed 60-70 % of those fighting were economically motivated, while 10% were real believers, ideologically motivated jihadis who wanted to bring back the Islamic emirate of the Taliban.
Hmmm.....This puts things in a different light.
Enough about the "insurgent employees", lets see what a
local Policeman has to say:
"I was very famous for getting food from the people," he said.
"Sometimes I'd say, 'Bring me some eggs!' Nobody would say anything, they were too afraid.
"If they didn't give us food, we'd beat them with our guns. I'd order them around, 'We are mujahideen and you're not giving us food!' I'd say. 'You have to give it to us. We're doing this for God Almighty.'"
Oh dear.
Let's see what the local human rights group has to say about the Police:
Mohammed Ibrahim Sahdat, a lawyer from the Human Rights Commission for Afghanistan, said the biggest problem in his province, Helmand, was false arrests.
"Mainly people are arrested for money, but not always," he said.
He gives the example of a 30-year-old detainee whose home was near the scene of an explosion and who was accused of having ordered it.
"If something happens, the police have to arrest someone," Sahdat said.
Sahdat gives us the story of the punishment some get for being...poor!?!:
"Jalaludin was landless, a poor man, with no influence and that's why he was arrested. The interesting point is that the person who detained him is now an MP in Kabul."
Sahdat said that Jalaludin was hung by his feet for 10 hours, beaten and given electric shock treatment. Now released, he is receiving medical treatment in Pakistan.
Sounds like some fun times, but at least it is better than when the Taliban was the only gig in town:
An elder who told me about the arrest of a youth in his village said times were so bad, many people longed for the return of the Taliban, not because they were religious, but because at least there was security then.
Time to pull out.