Arid Afghan province proves fertile for Taliban

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0714/p07s02-wosc.html

Some disaffected villagers in Zabul Province now offer shelter and assistance to militants.

By Owais Tohid | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

KALAT, ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Toor Jan is ostensibly a farmer, but he's also a spy. Jan roams the streets and gathers information about the movements of US and Afghan forces and passes it on to Taliban guerrillas.

"I cannot fight face to face with Americans but I am helping mujahideen on the other front," says Jan, not his real name, at a meeting behind a roadside shop in a village of southern Afghanistan's Zabul province.

Some villagers in Zabul - a hardscrabble and deeply conservative corner of Afghanistan - now offer shelter and assistance to Taliban insurgents. As the militants exploit both the mountainous geography and the political grievances of the Pashtuns here, the province is increasingly becoming a no-go area for foreign aid workers and a permanent irritant for US-led coalition forces.

Pashtuns in this region feel unrepresented by the Kabul government, despite the fact that President Hamid Karzai is a Pashtun. Raids and house searches by US troops in the area have only furthered hostility among residents. Meanwhile, a drought has covered the already arid region with dust, depriving many of their livelihoods. And there is no sign of international reconstruction work to better their lot.

Disaffected villagers "are like a poppy crop for the Taliban, a form of hard currency and a great weapon against Americans," says Akbar Khan, an educated young man of Zabul.

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[Maeve]

1. But...but...we WON that already!!

Defeated the Taliban..."on the run" and all that jazz...
:eyes:

[lkinsale]

2. Sounds like another NW Frontier Territory developing

Just like in the tribal parts of Pakistan where the government has no real authority, and where bin Laden is now suspected to be hiding.