Afghan Villagers Stone a Taliban Commander to Death
KABUL, Afghanistan — Angry villagers stoned to death a local Taliban commander and his bodyguard in southern Afghanistan Sunday after the militants killed a 60-year-old man accused of aiding the government, Afghan officials said....
...The stoning occurred a day after insurgents in the northeastern province of Kunar stoned, hanged and shot two Afghan National Army soldiers returning from leave, Afghan officials said. The attacks were unrelated and happened far away from each other, but they underscored the grisly nature of the insurgency even as NATO officials say overall violence in the country is beginning to show a sustained downward trend for the first time in five years...
...Hajji Abdul Manaf Kan, the district governor, said the stoning showed that fear of the Taliban is waning as security has improved in the area. “When the people feel secure, they will definitely rise up against the Taliban,” he said.
But some simply viewed it as an act of vengeance.
“I don’t think people feel secure in Nawa,” said Hajji Ahmad Shah Khan, a tribal elder there. “I myself don’t feel secure, because the armed men are so cruel against the people. It is hard to raise voices against them. But when someone kills someone’s father or brother in front of you, it makes you retaliate.”
While violence has dropped with the surge of American troops in some parts of the province, the Taliban have been asserting themselves in Gereshk, a market town on the ring highway that circles the country...
Hopefully it is the beginning of bringing a form of justice to the Taliban...but I wouldn't count on it.
Thanks to Darren at RotLC for the tip.
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