Even if this particular story is not true, I'm sure similar things or even worse things have happened. To repress a people to such an extent, you need to use total brutality to keep them in line.
I was talking to a "pacifist" today at campus and I showed him stuff on what the Taliban does to "criminals" and women. It's no different than what the SS was doing 60 years. I watched his mind change before my eyes.
I've had similar things happen with my normally pacifist family. They aren't excited about war, but when they learn who the Taliban are, they aren't exactly eager to march against it either.
patent