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| Afghan children crippled by explosive toys KANDAHAR, Dec 16: The glint in the sand caught seven-year-old Ali Mohammad’s eye and he picked up the shiny metallic object to show it to his brother and sister. But when he hit his new-found toy with a rock, it exploded, blowing his ...more Learn
counting NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Contemporary history overshadowed even language and mathematics in war-torn Afghanistan, reveal text books. The books say the....more Marines
patrol lavish KANDAHAR, Dec 16: Behind walls one metre thick in a courtyard with fountains and pastoral murals .....more |
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US woman sentenced to prison for racial slurs on Sikhs NEW YORK, Dec 16: A 54-year-old woman in the US was sentenced to 30 days in prison and put on....more
LONDON, Dec 16: Close on the heels of the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament, chilling plans for a devastating bomb attack on the London city .......more
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Afghan children crippled by explosive toys KANDAHAR, Dec 16: The glint in the sand caught seven-year-old Ali Mohammad’s eye and he picked up the shiny metallic object to show it to his brother and sister. But when he hit his new-found toy with a rock, it exploded, blowing his hand off, ripping his brother’s leg apart and tearing a hole in his sister’s abdomen. The three children now lie in the Chinese hospital in Kandahar, the latest innocent victims of the unexploded ordnance that litters Afghanistan after more than two decades of war. Their father, Ghulam Mohammad, accepts the horrific accident with the tragic resignation of a people for whom death has become an everyday occurrence. "This was an act of god," he said simply, his eyes welling with tears. "I cannot blame anyone." Kandahar was already one of the most heavily mined areas in the world before the United States began air attacks to oust the Taliban regime that harboured Osama bin Laden and cut off their escape route south to Pakistan. The United Nations estimates five million to 10 million landmines are scattered across Afghanistan, killing or maiming 10 people every day. Most were placed by Soviet forces during their decade-long occupation of the country that ended in 1989. Mohammad, a nomadic herdsman in Helmand province north of Kandahar, does not know what the object was that injured three of his five children but he says there were aerial bomb attacks on the area two days earlier. Experts estimate that 10 to 30 per cent of bomblets dropped by the US forces fail to detonate on impact and either sink into the ground or lie on the surface, effectively becoming landmines, say Non-Governmental Organisations working in Afghanistan. US forces are dropping cluster bombs that contain hundreds of these bomblets designed to shred their enemies flesh and wreck the equipment of foes on the ground. "A vehicle came through the area and they were trying to bomb it," says Mohammad. "I don’t know who it was." His indifference to the politics of Afghanistan makes his suffering all the more pathetic. He holds no strong views about the Taliban, who surrendered Kandahar 10 days ago, or the Pashtun tribal leaders who have taken their place. "I just hope we can have peace now," said Mohammad whose entire herd of 500 sheep died from drought two years ago and who now survives by collecting kindling to sell in Kandahar. In what passes for an emergency room at the Chinese hospital, male nurses change the dressing over the bloody stump where Ali’s hand used to be and fumble to find a vein to inject his sister, four-year old Gul Bibi, with painkillers. The children’s chances of survival are slim. This is the first proper treatment they have received since the explosion occurred about 24 hours earlier. And the hospital, one of Kandahar’s best, lacks proper equipment and medicine to treat the 60-70 patients who arrive every week with injuries from bombings and gunshot wounds, said the head nurse, also called Ghulam Mohammad. "We need more powerful antibiotics," he said. "We receive many cases with abdominal and visceral injuries. In such cases, conventional antibiotics are not enough to fight infection." The 180-bed hospital also lacks trained medical staff, especially surgeons, due largely to the Taliban’s ban on women working with men in operating theatres. "We tried to persuade the Taliban to allow us to have a female surgeon," said the head nurse. "They said it’s not allowed for a female surgeon to join male staff in an operating theatre. We did not have enough female staff to make another one. "We have female surgeons, doctors and nurses in Kandahar but most of them are still too afraid to come back to work." With luck, that will change under the new administration of city Governor Gul Agha and the hospital will start to treat more than just the casualties of war, he says. Bombing injuries have dropped off since the Taliban surrendered 10 days ago but gunshot wounds are on the rise as feuding tribal leaders jostle for power. "We are still receiving patients but they are mostly gunshot wounds," said Mohammad, the head nurse. "Most of them are the result of personal disputes. Now people have an opportunity to take revenge." But Ali Mohammad, Bor Mohammad and Gul Babi were too young to understand the war in Afghanistan or the internecine squabbles between rival tribal chiefs. They were simply looking for a toy. (REUTERS) |
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Learn counting the "Talib" way NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Contemporary history overshadowed even language and mathematics in war-torn Afghanistan, reveal text books. The books say the Mujahideen laid 260 anti-tank mines for Russian tanks and out of them 180 mines exploded. They ask the little ones to find out how many mines are remaining. Question 2: 15 Mujahideens attacked 100 communists from one side. 17 Mujahideens attacked from the other side. Out of the 100 communists, 14 were arrested and 72 killed. Find out (A) how many Mujahideens were involved in the attack and (B) how many infidels fled. Question 3: Karim is a Mujaheed. He had 5 magazines of AK bullets. Each magazine has 30 bullets. He fired 3 magazines at the infidels and killed 50 of them. Find: (A) The average number of bullets used to kill an infidel and (B) The number of remaining bullets. These are standard maths questions in a school book in Kabul, whether belonging to the period of the erstwhile Government of Burhanuddin Rabbani or from the subsequent rule of Taliban regime. "Instead of using apples or oranges to teach counting, the books use drawings of Kalashnikov rifles, box cutters, swords, tank mines and hand grenades," a report in the forthcoming issue of european journal "new republic" said in a despatch from Kabul. Learning of Dari language equally has a militant hue. The letter ‘T’ stands for ‘Tofang’ or gun. It also stands for ‘Talib’ like in the sample sentence - "Abdulatif is a good Talib". The letter ‘SH’ stands for ‘Shamsher’ or sword. The alphabet ‘A’ with a soft sign over it is used in Israelis, as in the sentence "Israelis are anti-Muslims". ‘ZH’ stands for ‘Zhola’ or hail like in the sentence "the Mujahideen are launching rockets like hail on the infidels". For a country at war for the last two decades, these may have been useful lessons, matters of everyday practice, the journal said, adding "but they are also an indication of how deep Afghanistan’s psychological wounds run." The despatch quoted a Kabul bookshop employee, Faisal, as lamenting it was sad that the international community "knows Afghanistan by only three things: Al Qaida, Mujahideen and the Taliban. And the three people: Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Ahmed Shah Masood." Faisal said he had hired a tutor for his sister’s home education, but when he discovered the books her tutor was using, he postponed her lessons. "I wish people would know there are real people living here with minds to think" and they would know what poetry and scholarship Afghanistan brought into the world, he told ‘new republic’. In this context, faisal referred to persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rum Balkhi who belonged to Northern Afghanistan, Abu Rayhan Al Biruni, the astrologer who discussed earth’s rotation on its axis and the speed of light relative to speed of sound in the eleventh century. The journal said "Faisal is not alone in his musings" in Afghanistan and quoted several others in this regard. (PTI) |
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Marines patrol lavish home of dour Taliban leader KANDAHAR, Dec 16: Behind walls one metre thick in a courtyard with fountains and pastoral murals, Mullah Mohammad Omar slept on a wooden queen-sized bed beneath gilded chandeliers. The bedroom of the supreme Taliban leader is one of the few rooms left intact by US air attacks on the compound on the outskirts of Kandahar, from where he imposed his extreme interpretation of Islamic law on Afghanistan and vainly defied US firepower. Gaping holes in the compound walls mark where US missiles struck, pulverising outhouses and guest rooms and leaving carefully manicured gardens littered with household debris — a shower head, broken mirrors, a cupboard overflowing with empty Pepsi cans. But the battered remains of this desert palace offer some of the only clues to the personality and lifestyle of the mysterious and reclusive Muslim cleric, now a fugitive wanted by the United States for his support for Osama bin Laden. The only occupants of the complex yesterday were a cluster of Afghan guards and a dozen US marines who have set up a makeshift base in a guard house, now flying the flag of the king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah. "Just taking a look around," drawled one marine in a deep southern accent as he pulled into the guardpost in a grey toyota landcruiser. And where is Mullah Omar now? "If we knew that, I guess we wouldn’t be here," said the marine in desert fatigues and sunglasses, before driving off to join his colleagues. Earlier, US special forces in Mufti were seen scouring the area in army jeeps mounted with machine guns on the lookout for scattered Taliban and Al Qaeda diehards. US forces have combed the site since they arrived on Tuesday searching for evidence of Mullah Omar’s links to Bin Laden — the man wanted for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington — and clues to both men’s whereabouts. But while Bin Laden’s thin face and flowing beard are now recognised across the world, even Mullah Omar’s appearance is a mystery, let alone his current location. Only fuzzy purported photographs exist of the man, who is known to have lost an eye fighting the Soviets. Under his leadership, the Taliban banned pictures as well as television, music and other entertainments as they imposed their interpretation of a 1,300-year-old Austere Islamic Utopia. Locals who live next to the compound say they never set eyes on the Taliban’s supreme leader, also known as amirul momineen, or leader of the faithful. "If 20 people came to see him, only one would be allowed in and he would be searched three times," said Fadi Mohammad, who lived near the complex and now guards the marines’ outpost. "When he left the compound, he would take a convoy of 12 or 15 vehicles, all black landcruisers with tinted windows," he said. "You never knew which one he was in." Guarded by anti-aircraft batteries, tanks and about 400 armed guards, Mullah Omar led a reclusive life with his four wives and most loyal commanders in the sprawling compound, which includes its own mosque, local residents said. The rooms were simply but comfortably decorated with western-style furniture and bathroom fittings. Walls were painted in pastel hues of pink and green or splashed with gaudy landscapes of mountain, oasis and village scenes. From one of these rooms, Mullah Omar doled out scraps of paper with instructions for his commanders and wads of cash from two metal trunks — the Afghan treasury, says Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid. Rashid portrays him as a shy man with simple tastes, who came to power with a vision to end years of bloody conflict between feuding warlords around Kandahar. One of the rare people to meet him described a scene reminiscent of early Christian ascetics — the Taliban leader appeared barefoot in worn robes hanging below his knees. But in a country where the average civil servant earns just 12 dollars per month, the relative luxury of his palace-fortress inspires awe, envy and anger among ordinary Afghans, who are occasionally allowed to tour the site. "Look at this house, it’s incredible" said one such visitor, who gave his name as Farooq. "He proclaimed himself a leader of the Islamic world but this is not the way for such a leader to live." (REUTERS) |
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US woman sentenced to prison for racial slurs on Sikhs NEW YORK, Dec 16: A 54-year-old woman in the US was sentenced to 30 days in prison and put on probation for five years for shouting racial slurs at two Sikhs and trying to pull a turban from the head of one of them. The court also ordered the woman, Shari Mitchell, a resident oregon state, to stay away from firearms and undergo mental health treatment when she confessed she was mentally ill and had thought she had found Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. During the September 16 assault, Mitchell had spilled tea and pushed 60-year-old Santokh Singh, who was going with his son-in-law Jagjit Gill, and called them "terrorists". In another race-related incident, police in New York state have arrested three teenagers on the charge of setting fire to Gobind Sadan Gurdwara in Palermo, about 40 kms from Syracuse. Police said the youths aged between 18 and 19 admitted to arson and authorities plan to press hate crime charges which could result in stiffer sentences than a mere charge of arson. Following September 11 attacks, Sikhs have been harassed across the United States as they were mistaken for followers of Bin Laden because of their turban and beard. At least one Sikh was shot dead and several were beaten up. The Sikh organizations had launched an intensive media campaign to impress upon the people that they are required by their religion to have beards and were different from Arabs. (PTI) |
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LONDON, Dec 16: Close on the heels of the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament, chilling plans for a devastating bomb attack on the London city have been discovered at a terrorist base in Afghanistan. The plans reveal a sophisticated Al-Qaeda training programme to spread its terror campaign in Britain and the blueprint is contained in a notebook written in clear English discovered at an Al-Qaeda camp in Kandahar. Disturbingly for British police and intelligence services, there is no indication whether the terrorist who drew up the plan stayed to fight and die with Osama bin Laden’s group, or had already left on his mission to Britain before the suicide hijackings of September 11 and US bombing of Afghanistan, a report in ‘The Observer’ weekly here said. In step-by-step instructions, the blueprint describes how to construct a huge remote-controlled van bomb - identical to those used by Al-Qaeda against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania with lethal effect in 1998. A scribbled note on top of one page suggests the intended target was moorgate in the centre of London’s financial district. The notebook is the first hard evidence that London was also an intended target. It appears to confirm fears of intelligence services and metropolitan police that an Al-Qaeda sleeper cell may already be in Britain preparing an attack. Anti-terrorist officers of the Scotland Yard will investigate into the report, a Scotland Yard source said today. "We have to recognise that there are some very big targets in the city," a spokesman of the Scotland Yard said. Written in notes - apparently as an aide-memoire by the man who would construct the bomb - the language used suggests that the author was a British fundamentalist who prepared the document while training in Sheragha Jama district of Kandahar, an area riddled with homes and compounds of Al-Qaeda fighters. Other documents found with the notebook indicate it was probably written in the early part of this year. Although most of the Al-Qaeda camps around Kandahar had already been cleared of their document caches by US special forces, the observer came across the notepad in a compound, riddled with bunkers, the report said. (PTI) |
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