NATO Troops Take Over Taliban Stronghold

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

NATO Troops Take Over Taliban Stronghold

KABUL, Afghanistan, Apr. 7, 2007

(AP) More than 1,000 NATO and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban
and took over control of a district center in southern Afghanistan
long held by the militants, officials and witnesses said Saturday.

The troops used helicopters, armored vehicles and infantry in their
push toward the town of Sangin in Helmand province, the world's
biggest opium-producing region, NATO's International Security
Assistance Force said in a statement late Friday.

"Military troops have successfully engaged several Taliban extremist
strongholds and discovered a number of large weapon caches," the
statement said.

The operation to retake Sangin from militants started late Wednesday
and is part of NATO's largest ever offensive in Afghanistan, Operation
Achilles, launched last month to flush out Taliban militants from the
northern tip of Helmand province and open the way for multimillion-
dollar repair work on a dam in Kajaki district which would supply the
country's south with electricity.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/07/ap/world/main2660172.shtml

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Related: Royal Marines in attack on Taliban's 'heart of darkness' - The Guardian

[saigon68]

1. Hope they like guarding the dam

For centuries

[Marrah_G]

2. I hope for the sake of Afgani women they can keep the Taliban from regaining power

The suffering imposed on women by them was so incredibly horrendous. Imagine having to die from very treatable illness or injury because you are forbidden medical treatment. Or being completely confined to your home, unable to even go find food because you have no immediate male relatives. No music, art, learning etc. These are the worst of the worst and we helped put them in power.


Below is a list from Islamfortoday.com. They have many articles on the subject on their "Women of Afganistan" page.

Restrictions Placed on Women by the Taliban
compiled by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights.

Some of the restrictions the Taliban have placed upon Women:

1.Complete ban on women working outside their homes, including teachers, doctors and engineers.

2.Complete restriction on women's movement outside of their houses without a mahram (father, brother or husband).

3.Ban on dealing with male shopkeepers.

4.Ban on being treated by a male doctor.

5.Ban on studying at school, university or any other educational institution.

6.Compulsory wearing of a long veil (Burqa) which covers women from head to toe.

7.Whipping, beating and verbal abuse of women whose Burqa is not worn in accordance to Taliban rules. The same applies to women found in public without a mahram.

8.Whipping of women in public for having non-covered ankles.

9.Public stoning of women for having sex outside marriage (a number of lovers are stoned to death under this rule.)

10.Ban on all use of make-up (a number of women's fingers have been amputated for having painted nails).

11.A ban on women from talking or shaking hands with non-mahram males.

12.A ban on women for laughing loudly (no stranger should hear the voice of a women).

13.A ban on wearing high heeled shoes which would produce sound while walking as hearing the sound of a women's step is forbidden.

14.A ban on women using a taxi without a mahram.

15.Banning women's presence in radio, television and gatherings of any kind.

16.Banning women from playing any sport or entering a sports centre or club.

17.A ban on women riding a bicycle or a motorcycle even with their mahrams.

18.A ban on women wearing brightly coloured clothing (in their terms "sexually attracting colours").

19.Banning women's gatherings on festive occasions such as the Eids or for a recreational purpose.

20.Banning women from washing clothes next to rivers or at public places.

21.All place names with the word 'women' in it have been changed. For example "women's garden" has been renamed "spring garden".

22.Banning women from appearing on the balcony of their apartments or houses.

23.Compulsory painting of all windows so women can not be seen from the outside.

24.Banning male tailors from taking measurements or sewing women's clothes.

25.Banned from using female public baths.

26.Public buses have been separated into male and female buses.

27.A Ban on being photographed or filmed.

28.Ban on women's pictures being printed on newspapers and books or even hung their own houses.

29.Ban on listening to music not for women but for men as well.

30.Total ban on watching movies, television and video for everyone.

[ohio2007]

4. It would be a step back for all western women.

Freedom FROM religion is a right womens organizations in the west will lose out to in a generation or two if they remain silent.

...yet the deafening roar of silence continues...

[saigon68]

5. Unfortunately all of that will probably come true

If extremist islamic religious doctrine decrees it

It will be done.

The only way to prevent it is to "cleanse" the country of all clerics and followers who want women to be ruled as your post suggests. Unfortunately that won't happen. Until extreme islam is totally reformed, subjugation of womyn will still occur.

The US has to decide once and for all if it wants our brand of "democracy" , christianity and the 14th amendment to be the norm throughout the world.

[Marrah_G]

6. All of that has already been true

That was the life of a woman in Afganistan under the Taliban. It will happen again if they are allowed to gain control again.

[ohio2007]

7. A grim milestone for womens rights in Egypt approaches

Democrat meets banned Muslim Brotherhood

<snip>
Visiting House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record) met with the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Saad el-Katatni, twice on Thursday — once at the parliament building and then at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Berry would only confirm that Hoyer, who represents Maryland, met with el-Katatni at U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone's home at a reception with other politicians and parliament members.



<snip>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070407/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_us_muslim_brotherhood_3

Well,
Denile is a river in Egypt......

Will the MSM get the real story as to what was discussed ?
Will the B'hood change the current Egyptian policies on the way sectarian women are treated if they come to power ?

[ohio2007]

3. US donations built the dam that brought electricity to the region

so US troops are protecting a vital interest of the american people. Many Afghans know what made the dam a reality in the first place.They have a vital interest in protecting it also. That dam may be all that keeps them from falling back into the stone age.
yaba daba do