[Patrickov]

Afghan girl who killed Taliban gunmen 'ready to fight again'

GHAZNI (AFGHANISTAN) - An Afghan girl who shot dead two Taliban fighters after they gunned down her parents said she was ready to confront any other insurgents who might try to attack her.

Qamar Gul, 15, killed the militants when they stormed her home last week in a remote village in the central province of Ghor.

"I no longer fear them and I'm ready to fight them again," Gul told AFP by telephone from a relative's home, where she was being watched by guards.

A photo of Gul posing with a gun has circulated online, with many praising her actions and calling for her safe passage out of the country.

It was about midnight when the Taliban arrived, Gul said, recounting the events of that night.

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She was asleep in her room with her 12-year-old brother when she heard the sound of men pushing at the door of their house.

"My mother ran to stop them but by then they had already broken the door," Gul said.

"They took my father and mother outside and shot them several times. I was terrified".

But moments later, "anger took over".

"I picked up the gun we had at home, went to the door and shot them," said Gul, who was taught by her father how to fire an AK-47 assault rifle.

Her brother stepped in when one of the insurgents, who appeared to be the group's leader, tried to return fire.

"My brother took the gun from me and hit (shot) him. The fighter ran away injured, only to return later," Gul said,

By then, several villagers and pro-government militiamen had arrived at the house. The Taliban eventually fled following a lengthy firefight.

- 'Proud' -

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the killings at Gul's home also involved a family feud -- and that one of the attackers was Gul's own husband.

The paper, quoting Gul's relatives and officials, said he was seeking her "forcible return" after a falling-out with her family.

Officials told AFP the Taliban had come to kill Gul's father, who was the village chief, because he supported the government.

The insurgents regularly kill villagers they suspect of being informers for the government or security forces, with Taywara district, where Gul's remote village is located, the scene of near-daily clashes between government forces and the Taliban.

"I am proud I killed my parents' murderers," she said. "I killed them because they killed my parents, and also because I knew they would come for me and my little brother."

Gul regrets she was unable to say goodbye to her mother and father.

"After I killed the two Taliban, I went to talk to my parents, but they were not breathing," she said. "I feel sad, I could not talk to them one last time."

Hundreds of people on social media are demanding the government protect her, with some calling for her to be sent outside of Afghanistan.

"I demand that the president help transfer her to a safe place as her and her family's security is at risk," prominent women's rights activist and former lawmaker Fawzia Koofi wrote on Facebook.

Munera Yousufzada, a defence ministry official, said Gul's "brave act" was a message to the Taliban from Afghan women.

"The Taliban must realise and know that today's women are different than the women during their rule," she said on Twitter.

"If you really want to protect her, then send her abroad. If she comes to Kabul for even two days... she will be killed," Zoya Amini, a resident of Kabul, wrote on Facebook.

President Ashraf Ghani also praised Gul for "defending her family against a ruthless enemy", his spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.

A Taliban spokesman has confirmed an operation took place in the area of the attack, but denied any of the group's fighters had been killed by a woman.

Bangkok Post


When a good person goes to war...

[Rancid]

Crazy stuff.

[Politics_Observer]

@Rancid

Ohh it gets a lot crazier than that over there. Believe me.

[Patrickov]

I sometimes feel that if a place has descended to people have to kill each other for a living, maybe that place has become inhospitable.

[Politics_Observer]

@Patrickov

They have been doing that for centuries in Afghanistan even during the peaceful moments in history when they weren't fighting foreign occupations or invasions. Over there, they have feuds that go back for hundreds of years. It's part of the code of Pashtunwali where if somebody slighted you, your kids or grand kids might take revenge on the kids or grand kids of the person who slighted you even though the kids or grand kids have nothing to do with it. One of my country's Navy SEALs was the lone survivor of a firefight with the Taliban was taken by a non Taliban village.

So, as part of Pashtunwali, he was their "guest" and when you are a tribe's guest they will fight all pursuers no matter who you are or who your pursuers are. No matter what, without exception, no matter what. It's their extreme form of hospitality. It's also why the Taliban wouldn't hand over Bin Laden when we asked the Taliban for him in 2001. Bin Laden was a terrorist from the Middle East but he was their "guest" and so as part of Pashuntwali and "maintaining honor" they felt they had to provide protection to him without exception no matter who he was (obviously a terrorist and wanted criminal responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians) or who is pursuers were (the United States). It's a code they live and die by.

So, the Taliban comes to their village looking for the Navy SEAL and the village tells the Taliban they couldn't have them because he was their "guest." Well the Taliban wasn't having any of that so the village takes up arms against the Taliban and the Taliban gets kicked out of the village while they were trying to look for the Navy SEAL. Our guys come in and get the Navy SEAL and afterwards the Taliban returns in bigger numbers and destroys the village so now the survivors of that village is probably fighting the Taliban. It's crazy. That's how they roll over there.

“Pashtuns believe that their social code produces men, who are superior to those produced under the Western model, and they have no desire to have a new social system imposed on them by outsiders” (Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, “No Sign Until the Burst of Fire”, p. 61).

“Melmastia” (hospitality) is a key component of Pashtunwali. “Melma” means a guest. However, hospitality is not to be interpreted in the manner a Westerner would interpret it. It means offering hospitality to a guest; transcending race, religion and economic status. It also means once under the roof of the host, a guest should neither be harmed nor surrendered to an enemy. This will be regardless of the relationship between the guest and the host enjoyed previously.

Here, you can read about Pashtunwali here: https://nation.com.pk/06-Aug-2013/under ... ashtunwali

[Rancid]

It's a code they live and die by.

There's something endearing by how hard they stick to this code. Still, the code feels hopelessly unsustainable.

[Politics_Observer]

@Rancid

It is endearing, I agree. However, there is an informal mechanism that involves Afghan village elders that can end blood feuds. I can't remember the exact name of the mechanism but it does involve Afghan elders interceding somehow to end blood feuds that have been doing on for a long time. I am not sure if it involves the Jirga (which sort of like an informal court system involving but not a court systems at all).

It's kinda like adjudicating in anarchy to prevent the Pashtunwali from imploding on itself. At the end of the day, the Afghan elders hold the power to end blood feuds. Nanwati is another mechanism that prevents Pashtunwali from imploding on itself. An extreme example is that if somebody has commited the crime of murder against an Afghan family and that Afghan family tracks them down and finds the person that committed that crime and the person asks for Nanawati, then that very same Afghan family must feed, clothe and offer protection to that person even though he is an enemy, literally. It's important to know these things if you have to engage with the Pashtun in Afghanistan.

[Patrickov]

So, as part of Pashtunwali, he was their "guest" and when you are a tribe's guest they will fight all pursuers no matter who you are or who your pursuers are. No matter what, without exception, no matter what. It's their extreme form of hospitality.

Ah, I misused a term maybe. I intended to express something like "uninhabitable".