Turnabout's Fair Play

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Afghan Villagers Stone a Taliban Commander to Death
By RAY RIVERA and TAIMOOR SHAH
Published: August 22, 2011

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.

It was a rare reversal of brutality aimed at the Taliban and, some Afghan officials believe, suggests a growing sense of security in an area where the insurgency has lost ground to NATO forces in the last two years. The stoning happened in the Nawa District of Helmand Province, a verdant agricultural area along the Helmand River Valley, now considered one of the safest places in the volatile south as a result of a heavy influx of American troops and aid dollars.

“People won’t tolerate the Taliban’s barbaric actions anymore,” said Dawoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand Province. “They will stand against them whenever they are harmed.”

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.

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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.

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[vesta111]

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Sad when one thinks about it that even a small bird will protect it's nest.   Not so with humans, it takes time to arouse the instinct of survival as we rational humans do not fly into the face of danger on knee jerk reactions.