Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, December 19, 2006
PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - As many as 26 local Afghan men were executed by the Taliban yesterday and their headless bodies put on public display around a local village, in a morbid attempt to dissuade other civilians here from assisting NATO and Afghan national security forces operating in the area, coalition sources have told CanWest News Service.
If anyone can think of a better reason to turn the Waziristan Valleys into glass...I'd like to hear therm.
Hopes have been shattered that the Taliban would "pack up" and leave their traditional stronghold in Panjwaii District, 30 kilometres west of Khandahar city, says a local Afghan source, adding that NATO officials have been informed of the mass execution.
But Canadian military officials in Kandahar seemed unaware of the event and could not comment early Tuesday morning.
The Afghan source told CanWest News Service that 26 men between the ages of 20 and 30 were executed by the Taliban yesterday at about 4 PM, local time.
Their heads were removed and their bodies were hanged from trees in and around Bazar Talukan, a small agrarian village approximately 10 kilometres from Route Summit, a road building project in Panjwaii District that represents a front line in the coalition's ongoing battle with the Taliban.
"The bodies are still hanging there," the source said on Tuesday morning. "The Taliban is controlling area and they won't let the civilians bury the dead and put them to rest. They put letters on the bodies that said if anybody tries to bury the bodies, the Taliban will kill them, too."
The letters also stated that the Taliban would behead and hang any local civilian who tries to assist coalition forces in their attempt to liberate the area, and will kill those who assist with the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Providing local villages and farmers with material assistance is the primary aim of Operation Baaz Tsuka, a major NATO-led military campaign that launched in Panjwaii District on Friday.
Four decapitated bodies were hanged in the centre of Bazar Talukan Monday, beside an Islamic shrine. Another four decapitated bodies were hanged beside a rest stop for travelers. The remaining 18 decapitated bodies are scattered about the area in various locations.
"The Taliban hanged their heads in separate locations," said the local Afghan source, who did not want to be identified, fearing possible retribution from the Taliban.
One of the murdered men was a coalition informant who went missing 10 days ago, he added.
"The Taliban arrested him," he said. "We were trying to call him but there was no answer. Then his brother was asking us, 'where's my brother?'
The reaction in Bazar Talukan has been exactly what one would expect, he added. "People are afraid of the Taliban. They don't like them, but they have to help them, or they will be killed. They must give them food, clothing, their homes, whatever the Taliban demand, or they will die like the others."
The Taliban are believed to be girding for battle with coalition forces, who continue maneuvers in Panjwaii District, close to where Monday's mass executions took place.
Yesterday, Canadian Brigadier-General Tim Grant told reporters that the coalition hoped the enemy would leave the area, once they measured the size and strength of Operation Baaz Tsuka.
Soldiers from Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, Denmark, and Estonia are involved in campaign.
But other Canadian officers said that wherever they go, the Taliban inevitably follow.
"They are not going away without fighting and killing," the local Afghan source told CanWest News Service.
AQ and Taliban...and their supporters do not deserve to live. Period. Hunt them. Kill them...all of them. Let the chips fall where they may. 
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