Afghans enraged over Taliban video
Reuters
theglobeandmail.com
April 26, 2007 at 8:50 AM EST
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan — A Taliban video of a 12-year-old boy beheading a man accused of spying has angered many Afghans, drawing condemnation from tribal and religious leaders.
"It's very wrong for the Taliban to use a small boy to behead a man," religious teacher Mullah Attullah told Reuters on Thursday. "I appeal to the Taliban to please stop this because non-Muslims will think Islam is a cruel and terrorist religion.
"The Taliban do not follow the laws of Islam."
The video released this week shows the boy in a camouflage jacket and a white headband using a knife to behead a blindfolded man accused of being a spy for foreign forces as men cry "Allahu Akbar! (God is Great)."
The Taliban frequently behead suspected spies and often release video footage of the act.
A tribal leader in the south, the Taliban's heartland, said the beheading was un-Islamic.
"The Taliban are doing very bad things and it is against Islam to behead a man by a very young boy," Haji Saeed Jan told Reuters.
"Islam does not allow anyone to behead any man. The Taliban show the wrong image of Islam to the world. We condemn this."
In the border town of Spin Boldak, near Pakistan, a young man, Abdul Ghafur, was appalled by the footage.
"After I watched this, I could not eat any food for two days," he said. Some television stations broadcast clips from the footage.
Taliban commander Mullah Hayatullah Khan said the Taliban would kill anyone helping foreign forces in order to protect their guerrilla fighters.
"We showed the beheading video to warn others," he said by satellite phone from a secret location.
Asked why the Taliban used a boy, he said:
"We want to tell the non-Muslims that our youngsters are also mujahedeen (holy warriors) and fight with us against you."
"These youngsters will be our Holy War commanders in the future and continue the jihad for freedom. Islam allow boys and women to do jihad against occupying non-Muslim troops and their spies and puppets."
Last year was the bloodiest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001, and many security analysts expect this year to be worse, with the Taliban and other militant groups bolstered by money from another record opium crop. |
