Taliban Maintains Grip Rooted in Fear

[coda]

Does anybody buy the claim that 90% are registered to vote?


Sifullah is just 14 years old, but he knows enough to be afraid to bring tea.


Taliban Maintains Grip Rooted in Fear

By Keith B. Richburg

In Afghan Mountains, U.S. Forces Face Elusive Foe Bent on Disrupting Elections

Updated: 10:32 a.m. ET Aug. 9, 2004


"If anybody sees me bringing tea, they'll ask me why I am helping the coalition forces," he said softly to a small group of U.S. soldiers and a reporter. "I'm afraid of the Taliban."

The Taliban guerrillas usually come out at night, walking from the other side of the mountain, Sifullah said. They have long beards and usually dress in white, with big black or white turbans. Often they carry AK-47 assault rifles on their shoulders and 9mm pistols at their sides. Sometimes they have satellite telephones. They search the stone huts of this village for weapons, making the women wait outside.

And they come with a message: Do not help the Americans and their allies fighting in Afghanistan, and do not register to vote in the Oct. 9 presidential election, or you and your family will be killed.


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Taliban tactics were underscored as Peterson's unit left Parlay on Sunday, heading back toward Kandahar. At 5 p.m., the convoy discovered the bodies of seven men close to the roadside; all apparently had been killed at close range. Most appeared to have been shot in the back of the head, with the bullet wounds exiting in front, and one seemed to have had his head bashed in.


Local Afghan officials said they thought the men might have been killed for having voter registration cards, but no cards were found among them. The position of the bodies indicated that the men might have been trying to flee their attackers.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5648313/


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50666-2004Aug8.html?nav=rss_world