'... persecuted and whipped for refusing to wear a burqa and was ultimately sentenced to death by the Taliban.'More here http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/world/asia/woman-who-wrote-about-life-under-the-taliban-is-killed.html?_r=0&
'The Taliban in Afghanistan are being directly assisted by Pakistani security services, according to a secret Nato report seen by the BBC.'Only the BBC could be in any way surprised by this news.
'Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops resorted to small arms firing on Indian forward posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district, leaving a jawan injured.Pakistan likes to ramp up the tension in Kashmir from time to time, it draws attention away from their lack of progress or real interest re Waziristan. When will the West realise that Pakistan is not our loyal ally but partly an ally of the Taliban and Al Quaeda?
"There was firing from heavy weapons and RPG attacks on forward posts along the LoC in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district around 2200 hours last night," a senior Army officer said on Thursday.
The cross border firing continued for a brief period, he said, adding an Army jawan was injured in the firing and hospitalised.
Army troops guarding the LoC retaliated, he said. The firing was aimed at NPP and Shahpur forward posts along the LoC for pushing in militants into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
This is the second ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops this year.
Earlier on January 2, Pakistan troops had violated the ceasefire by firing on Indian posts in Poonch sector.'
'The next generation of Afghans is being radicalised by the Taliban - with children being ruthlessly exploited by the insurgents.'Islamist terrorists ruthlessly brainwashing children? "No shit, Sherlock".
'Earlier this year, in January, the Taliban said one of its fighters had infiltrated the Afghan army to carry out an attack which killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan.
And in November last year, an Afghan policeman shot dead five British troops in the southern province of Helmand.'
'A British aid worker who was among 10 people killed by gunmen in a remote part of north-east Afghanistan is named as Dr Karen Woo.''Shot UK medical worker identified'
'In the past five months the number child insurgents has increased almost fivefold in the town of Sangin, to a band of 40, who are used to run weapons, plant bombs and carry out tasks for the Taliban, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
According to military intelligence sources there are about 12 children being routinely used in the Sangin area just to plant bombs.
...
On one occasion surveillance cameras picked up two children under 10 walking along the main road with one placing an IED in a hole followed by another covering it up with a bag of stone and earth.
"They know that we won't engage the kids," said an intelligence source with 40 Commando, Royal Marines, based in Sangin. "The kids are less aware of the risks and will to do anything for a quick buck.
"But it's really exploiting children. The parents are upset they do this but they are very, very intimidated by the Taliban."
There have been 44 roadside bombs in Sangin in the past months, a fifth were carried out by children.
At least one child has been killed in the last month laying an IED. Two other youngsters from his team turned up at the Marines' base one missing a hand and the other was later found with batteries, tape and wire on him. '
"In that hideout they used to train suicide bombers.
Most were children of my age or younger than me. They were used for these activities because they were too young to know any better.
...
My father and brother told me to carry out a suicide attack. They were pressuring me to do this.
They told me: "If you do it you will go to paradise long before us." I replied: "Why don't you tell me I will go to hell long before you?"
Every day they used to tell me this. Every day. I was very young when they started telling me this. I said to them: "What about all the people I will kill? They are all Muslims."
They started beating me when I refused. They beat me non-stop. They made my life hell. I never had a single moment of happiness. They did everything other than kill me.
They said: "The bomb will be connected with a button, or something like the remote control of a TV. We will give you this kind of remote, and you will go to the place.
"We will also give you a mobile, and we will ring that phone, and press the remote, and you will be blown up with this bomb."
They told me they would use such a large amount of explosives that no-one would even know if it was a man or a woman.
They told me that I had to do it.
There was a kind of medicine they used to give to the bombers that made them go around smiling, in a trance.
They said they would give me that medicine, and then I would go running to die - with a smile. I was so scared I decided to prepare my own tea, and my own food.
I was afraid they would mix that medicine with my food."
"They attached a bomb to my sister Nahida. They tied rectangular pieces to both her arms, and a black strip was wrapped around both her legs.
Then they connected the whole thing. She told my brother the bomb was heavy and she could not walk.
He said she would be comfortable once she was sitting down in the car.
They gave her medicine. But she was crying very loud for my mother. She kept going to her and hugging her. When my sister looked down at the bomb, she shivered.
Then my brother and my father started beating my mother, and they were shouting: "Why you are distracting the girl from her mission?"
I heard my sister saying: "Where is Meena? I want to see her." But I didn't have the strength. My heart couldn't take it.
My mother fainted when they put her in the car. My brother said my sister's attack was in Afghanistan.
I always think about my sister. She was healthy and a very nice girl. She was younger than me, but she was wiser. My mother used to tell me that I was an idiot, but she was very wise."
"An Afghan bill allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law."manages to run without mentioning Islam, Muslims or Sharia law. The BBC do manage to mention Shia twice once with the (for the BBC) demonic prefix "conservative".
"Cleric who negotiated Taliban-Pakistan peace deal is arrested - B.K.Bangash / Associated Press - Sufi Mohammed, in glasses, is shown in April after an address to supporters in Mingora. Pakistani authorities said he was detained without incident near Peshawar.
Taliban-aligned Sufi Mohammed arranged a truce in the Swat Valley, but militants have since reneged on the deal. Mohammed, father-in-law of a Taliban leader, is accused of militancy and violence."
"A senior British Army officer and six other military personnel survived attack when a tethered donkey laden with explosives was detonated as their armoured vehicle passed in southern Afghanistan. "
"Miliants in northern Pakistan have triggered a medical emergency by refusing to allow health officials to conduct a polio vaccination campaign.
Taliban militants in the former tourist destination of Swat Valley have obstructed officials from vaccinating over 300,000 children.
...
Extremist clerics have used mosque loudspeakers and illegal radio stations to spread the idea that the vaccinations cause infertility and are part of a US-sponsored anti-Muslim plot.
Dr Abid said that militants have not allowed polio vaccinations to take place at a critical time.
“Polio vaccination is effective in first three months of the year when virus transmission is lowest and so there is no interference with the vaccine virus,” said Dr Abid.
Militants had reportedly agreed to allow the vaccination program to take place as part of the peace agreements.
However, the militants had reneged on their word and despite assiduous efforts made by the increasingly irrelevant local administration, no vaccinations have taken place.
“It’s a US tool to cut the population of the Muslims. It is against Islam that you take a medicine before the disease”, said, Muslim Khan, Swat’s Taliban spokesman, speaking by telephone. "
"KABUL, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban, notorious for summary public executions, urged the United Nations on Thursday to press the Afghan government to stop executing prisoners on death row, citing concern about fair trials.
Afghanistan resumed executions this week after a break of more than a year, with three Taliban sentenced for deadly attacks among nine people put to death in the past few days.
Those executions followed a public outcry over rising crime.
About 120 other people have been sentenced to death and their fate rests with President Hamid Karzai, who has to approve any execution order.
The United Nations and European Union have called on Karzai to halt the executions, citing concern about the standards of judicial fairness.
The United Nations says Afghanistan's law enforcement and judicial systems fall far short of internationally accepted standards.
The Taliban leadership council said it too was worried about fair trials.
"We strongly request the U.N., the EU, the Red Cross and human rights groups to earnestly prevent this barbaric act," the Taliban said in a statement on their website, accusing Karzai's government of corruption."
"On May 11, 2008, the secular government in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) finalized a deal with the Taliban groups for the implementation of shari'a in the province's seven districts. The Pashtun nationalist government in the NWFP, which came to power last month, had vowed to talk to the Taliban in order to establish peace in the region. The talks were held between the government, Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e -Muhammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Shari'a).
The Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, led by Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the Islamist leader recently released from prison under a deal with the government, is the dominant Taliban group in the NWFP. It is also a constituent of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is led by Baitullah Mehsud.....
Under the deal between the NWFP government and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, which is controlled by Sufi Muhammad's son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, a shari'a system of administration and justice will be implemented in seven districts. This will effectively create the world's first mini-shari'a state within Pakistan, with the provincial government practically ceding control to the Taliban in roughly 45% of the province....
According to the Roznama Khabrain report, "the [ulema of the] department of Amr Bil Maroof will train [sic] people in Islam, Islamic teachings, Islamic norms and laws." There will be total ban on singing and dancing, and the ulema, who will not be paid a salary, will be based in the local police stations of the seven districts and offer their services as part of their work for Islam.
Courts Will Deliver Islam-Compliant Punishments
The paper stated that shari'a courts will be created in the seven districts, and that these courts will have the power to deliver Islam-compliant verdicts such as amputating the hands of individuals convicted of theft, administering 80 lashes or stoning for convicted rapists, or enforcing qisas - a principle that permits "like punishment" for a crime...."
