A Taliban campaign to intimidate moderate Islamic leaders in Afghanistan appears to be working.A week ago, suspected Taliban insurgents gunned down a pro-government mullah on the steps of his mosque in a village 20 kilometres west of Kandahar City. It was only the latest in a series of assassinations of moderate religious leaders.
Many mullahs say they have lost faith in the ability of Hamid Karzai's government or the coalition forces to protect them.
The respected leader of Kandahar's Shura Council, Mullah Gulam Mohamed, is so concerned for his safety that he doesn't even go to his own mosque anymore. "Yes, we are afraid of the Taliban," he says. "We support the government but the Taliban say the coalition troops are infidels who are occupying Afghanistan and they have threatened to kill everyone who speaks well of them."
Twelve mullahs belonging to Kandahar's 175-member Shura Council have been assassinated in the past four years.
Canadian troops have recently taken over responsibility for Kandahar. But far from bringing improvement, Mohamed says the level of fear is growing. This week alone, four mullahs on the council telephoned Mohamed asking his permission to resign. He says they had lost faith in the ability and the commitment of the government and the coalition to protect them. "The government didn't even send a representative to the funeral of Mullah Mulavi last week," he says. "And if we are killed the government will not take care of our families. So for what reason should we risk getting killed?"
The district police chief says Mullah Mulavi was killed as an example. "The Taliban did not kill Mullah Mulavi because of his religious views, or even his tribe," says police chief Major Zamani. "They killed him to show people that the coalition is not strong enough to protect them."
The Taliban say the coalition forces are infidels and is urging people to rise up against them because they are occupying Afghanistan.
Zamani says this is now a holy war and the coalition troops have to get a lot more aggressive in hunting down Taliban suspects and then get out. "They have to fight harder and finish up quickly," he says.
The Taliban's increasingly successful campaign to silence the moderate mullahs is a worrying sign for the Canadian troops in Kandahar. Support from respected religious leaders is a key element in giving Karzai's Western-backed government credibility.