Afghanistan's holy violence

By Nushin Arbabzadah, The Guardian/UK

The Taliban's spectacular attacks in Kabul yesterday took place just as the new cabinet members were taking their oath of office. In a report posted online on the Taliban website, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid listed the ministries under attack: the ministry of mining, the ministry of justice, and the ministry of finance. The Taliban's message was clear: even though the ministers were taking charge of Hamid Karzai's cabinet, the power in control of Kabul was not Karzai but the Taliban.

The ministers might not be used to the idea of dual governments, but outside Kabul Afghans have long learned to live under two parallel regimes, a daytime government run by President Karzai and a nighttime one run by the Taliban and other local strongmen. Ministers living in Kabul had been spared this unsettling reality until now, hiding as they do in bullet-proof cars, on blocked roads and behind the protective walls of Kabul's green zone. But the reality outside the capital is otherwise and ordinary Afghans have learned to negotiate their daily routine around avoiding random violence by the Taliban and other troublemakers. Monday's attacks might have given the ministers a taste of what life is like for a majority of Afghans, especially those who live in restive regions.

After the attacks, Mujahid posted a report, written in broken English, on the Taliban's al-Emarah website. The report mentions the names of Taliban commanders who were in charge of the so-called martyrdom operations. Mujahed says that seven of them "gave their lives for Allah the Almighty, and embraced martyrdom".

Afghanistan is a curious place. Those who kill are called martyrs. Those who they kill are also called martyrs and the violence is apparently done for the sake of God. "God is everywhere in Kabul," said a friend who recently returned to the city. "It's like a dictatorship. There is no escaping God here." Those who kill do so for the sake of God. Those who die hope that God will punish those who kill.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/19/kabul-attacks-taliban-afghanistan