# 2 Taliban killed by Afghan villagers



## Ravage (Jul 10, 2008)

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 28 minutes ago 

A group of villagers in northwestern Afghanistan used a machine gun, sticks and stones to kill two Taliban militants and chase 10 others away, a provincial police chief said Thursday.

The militants had tried to abduct local aid workers who were building a well in the Qayar district of Faryab province on Wednesday, said the police chief, Khalil Andarabi.

The villagers confronted the militants, and after a brief altercation, shot at them, killing two and forcing the rest to flee, he said.

The bodies of the dead militants, which included the Taliban-appointed shadow governor for the province, were still with the villagers, Andarabi said.

In areas where there is a Taliban presence, the militants appoint representatives to carry out administrative jobs such as tax collection and resolving disputes using traditional methods.

Cases of villagers attacking the Taliban are rare in the region and the authorities have moved additional troops in to prevent any Taliban retaliation, Andarabi said.

"According to our culture, when the people invited the aid workers to dig a well they cannot allow the Taliban to kidnap and behead them," Andarabi said. "They were guests, and we never give up our guests."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence


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## RackMaster (Jul 10, 2008)

Good on the locals!  I hope there is more news like this of them turning on the Taliban.


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## gryfen (Jul 10, 2008)

I don't know....

...it sounds more like an individual group of talib crossed just crossed a particular line.


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## AMRUSMCR (Jul 10, 2008)

I agree, Gryfen.  It sounds like an unwritten yet well understood code of appropriate conduct was breached.  



> "According to our culture, when the people invited the aid workers to dig a well they cannot allow the Taliban to kidnap and behead them," Andarabi said. "They were guests, and we never give up our guests."


 
Good on the villagers for upholding it with all means necessary.


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