Afghani Villagers Kill/Chase Out Taliban

[greentoblue]

A few more villages like these and we could start seeing the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel"!

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=105&sid=581050

"A group of villagers in northwestern Afghanistan used a machine gun, sticks and stones to kill two Taliban militants and chase 10 others away, a provincial police chief said Thursday....The bodies of the dead militants, which included the Taliban-appointed shadow governor for the province, were still with the villagers".

 

[jollyjacktar]

Excellent, the more the merrier.  BZ to the locals.

 

[1feral1]

Greetings to all valued members and guests,

The 10 that got away, might come back with 100 next time.

One MG and sticks and stones aint going to stop them this time.

However I am pleased to see what this vill had done.  Just hope it does not fall back on them tomorrow, or next week.

My two bob worth -  OWDU

 

[Jaydub]

Greetings to all valued members and guests,

The 10 that got away, might come back with 100 next time.

One MG and sticks and stones aint going to stop them this time.

However I am pleased to see what this vill had done.  Just hope it does not fall back on them tomorrow, or next week.

My two bob worth -  OWDU

That's what I was afraid of, but then I read this.

Cases of villagers attacking the Taliban are rare in the region and the authorities have moved additional troops in to prevent any Taliban retaliation, Andarabi said.

I hope those extra troops will be enough to stop them.

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Yesterday when my husband, who was in his combats, and I were at the overpass for Pte Wilmot, a young man approached us.  He was from Afghanistan and he wanted to come up and say thank you for the sacrifice and he appreciates we are doing over there. 

This story relates totally to what he was saying.  That it will take time for the elders to realize that the 'non Muslim' troops are there to help, not hurt the Afghan people. And it is hard for them to take the 'help', as they are a very proud people, even to a fault.
The Taliban has been 'brainwashing' them for so long that we are bad.  But as the Afghan people see that things are changing and getting better, that it will in turn make their own lives better that they will get rid the Taliban. 
And most of the fighters have been forced by the Taliban to fight even though it is not necessarily what they want.
And that once they are more educated and are able to feed their own families and survive on their own that the Taliban won't have the hold on them that they do now. 
He also said he was positive that what we are doing over there will make Afghanistan a better place, even if it takes a while.
This just shows that some are seeing the big picture, and that it won't be easy, but to not live in fear will be a good thing
It was really nice to hear his input, he has hope, and that's a great thing.

 

[1feral1]

That's what I was afraid of, but then I read this.

I hope those extra troops will be enough to stop them.

Dear Jay,

Sounds fine in the news, but in reality, a dispatched patrol, even say of PL strength can't stay there forever. I am sure the vill will get punished for what they have done once the soldiers move on.

Its just a matter of time.

Hopefully nothing more will happen, but thats perhaps too optimistic for now.

Happy days,


OWDU

 

[jollyjacktar]

I have a friend in the EW world who spent quite a bit of time outside of the wire.  He told me of cases like this, where instead of the Taliban coming into a village and whacking some of the people as they had in the past, it was turned around on them and they were the ones getting their heads cut off.

I sure hope you are wrong Wes, but yeah I fear they may pay a heavy price down the road for standing up to these assholes.  Still, at least there are two who won't be repeat offenders.  Shame they did'nt punch all their tickets.

 

[a_majoor]

This is actually a part of a growing trend. In 07, I can recall several instances of villages "leaking" information about weapons caches and in one case enough information to allow the capture of several Taliban "fighters".

They too had to fear retaliation, but acted to help us as being in their best long term interests. It is by little steps such as these that we will win.

Incidentally, one of the big reasons the AQ and Mahdi Army are getting ground up in Iraq is their terrorist tactics against the Iraqi locals, which lost them the support on the ground that any insurgency needs to survive. The Taliban seem to be approaching that point based on these sorts of observations and reports; the locals have had enough and their anger and frustration is overcoming their fear of the Taliban.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

And that is one of the reasons we are there.  To give the Afghanistan people power so they may stand up for their rights. It may take some time, but seeing activities such as this will eventually suggest that they are moving in the right direction.

 

[GAP]

As has been mentioned before, the whole process in Afghanistan is mainly going to be a generational thing....

 

[stegner]

This may be off topic-but is there a militia program in Afghanistan?

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Every Afghani male of fighting age is encouraged to join either the police or the Army as soon as they can so that they may be able to help out the country.  Recruiting is comprised of billboards all over the country and word of mouth.