Posted on 04/17/2006 8:22:54 AM PDT by Clive
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — In the moonlit hours before attacking Canadian and Afghan troops in one of the biggest battles this country has seen in months, the ragged band of Taliban rebels needed a place to sleep.
The insurgents had reason to expect they would find hot meals and comfortable beds in the village of Sangisar.
The long stretch of mud-walled farms alongside a river about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City has gained infamy as the birthplace of the Taliban movement. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the suspected planner behind Afghanistan's insurgency, once served as Sangisar's village preacher.
But the Taliban's hometown didn't open its doors to the insurgents when about 70 heavily armed fighters walked down the dusty streets shortly after midnight on Friday. The militants grew so desperate for shelter, villagers say, they barged into a farmer's home, locked him up and spent the night crowded into a single room with no beds, no pillows and not enough blankets.
"They didn't even have any tea or bread," said a resident of Kandahar, who was visiting relatives in Sangisar and found himself sleeping next door to the gunmen. "People in the village, they feel pressed from both sides. They don't like the government and they don't like the Taliban. But these days, they're more afraid of the Taliban because they don't follow any laws."
Details of the intense firefight in the district around Sangisar became clearer over the weekend, although the full chronology remains uncertain as dangerous roads prevent foreigners from visiting the battleground.
So far, it appears that 41 insurgents died and 11 were captured, while at least a dozen civilians were wounded and one died. Six Afghan police were also killed, including three senior officers. No Canadians were hurt.
How the fight started remains somewhat murky. Western military officials and Kandahar's governor described Afghan police launching a preventative attack against the Taliban as the insurgents were mustering their forces in Sangisar. An Afghan military source put it differently, saying that a band of insurgents ambushed the police on Highway 1, the road leading west from Kandahar, and the attack drew Afghan forces into the fight.
By all accounts, however, the Afghan authorities and their foreign partners knew that Taliban were massing in Sangisar at least four days before the shooting started. This coincides with when the Taliban fighters visited the district, according to villagers, which suggests the insurgents had difficulty operating secretly in their supposed stronghold.
There was nothing secretive about the banging noise a farmer heard shortly after midnight on Friday, as somebody knocked on the heavy wooden gate that protects his mud-walled compound.
By the light of a full moon, the farmer could see the Taliban's entire attack group standing on the road. They looked like young men, perhaps between 20 and 35 years old, most wearing black turbans and some wearing white.
Despite their heavy arsenal of Kalashnikovs, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and belts of ammunition, they appeared to have arrived on foot.
"He was afraid, because they had so many guns," said the Kandahari visitor who had been sleeping in an adjoining compound. "He didn't want to let them inside, but he had no choice."
They bundled him into a storage room and locked him inside, leaving him to spend the night on a dirt floor. Keeping with strict Islamic tradition, the Taliban didn't bother the farmer's wife and children, allowing them to remain in their two rooms. That left only the guest room for visitors, a space measuring four metres by six metres, to shelter about 70 gunmen.
They piled inside, with barely enough room to sit down and fewer than a dozen blankets for bedding. Some stayed outside, talking and patrolling around the compound with their assault rifles ready.
In the morning, the Taliban had disappeared. The farmer told his neighbours that the nighttime visit was the most terrifying thing he experienced that day, despite the smoke and explosions that soon filled the air as a battle raged around the village.
"In the daytime we fear the government," the Kandahari said. "At night we fear the Taliban. But we fear the night much worse. The Taliban can kill you in a second."
-
Good post, Clive. Thank you.
Yes, a good post. Thank you. I see that the villagers don't like the government or the Taliban. Interesting. What don't they like about the government? What does that mean for the future?
In other words, our job will get a lot more difficult and our tropps need to really keep the Taliban on the run now, because the moment we slack off, the Taliban will begin massacring villagers.
More infantry needs to be poured on to chase the Talibanis right back into Pakistan, or kill them. The local populace may need to be armed to fight against the Taliban, if we do not pour it on heavily.
Aww, aren't they such good guys. Isn't Islam a cool religion. They have so much respect for women and children. Our guys wouldn't be so nice and respectful, we go into homes and terrorize women and children, John Kerry said. /sarc
Thanks, Coop. You're busy this morning. ;~ )
I need to catch up
[If the local population is snubbing the Talibascos, then trouble is looming.]
Some of what you say is probably true but it can also be viewed as a very positive thing from the standpoint of the people getting fed up with the Taliban and us being the recipients of intel from the locals.
It's a sure sign they are beaten - when they no longer have any safe houses.
That they'll have a healthy mistrust of government?
Like 90% of humanity for most of history, their real preference in life is just to be left alone. Here, they seem not to like the government, but they like the Taliban a whole lot less. Sounds to me like they'd accept the government as a necessarily evil, which is just about the right outlook to have.
We're winning on this front too - just don't expect to see this kind of good news on your nightly news broadcasts.
bump
Villagers treating the Taliban as radioactive, excellent.
Given this area's history and love of weapons, I don't think these villages will be asking for nor expecting government protection. They'll likely handle it themselves.
I see a country song in there somewhere...
I agree, but they are outgunned by RPG's and Mortars. Thats the problem, we can;t arm them either, it would continue the post Taliban cycle of violence. All we can do is pour it on, and I hope our troops have the numbers and equipment to do so. If the USA and Pakistan enter a nuclear treaty, the Quetta based support for the Talibanis will likely dry up, if not, the PPLR will have to kick some serious ass.No choice.
Bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.