Terrorism

Afghans condemn ISIL for kidnapping, killing farmers

By Najibullah

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani November 4 in Ghor Province consoles families of shepherds slain by ISIL militants. [Courtesy of the Afghan Presidential Palace]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani November 4 in Ghor Province consoles families of shepherds slain by ISIL militants. [Courtesy of the Afghan Presidential Palace]

KABUL -- Afghans are condemning in the strongest terms the kidnapping and slaying of innocent civilians by loyalists of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL).

Gunmen on October 25 kidnapped at least 31 civilians, including six children, in Ghor Province and murdered them, prompting outrage and protests among the local population.

Militants affiliated with ISIL carried out the attack, possibly to avenge the killing of a local ISIL commander the previous day, officials said.

All the victims had been farmers who climbed hills and mountains to collect firewood for a meagre income, Ghaus-ud-Din, a young Afghan injured in the incident, told local media.

The apparent same group of ISIL loyalists struck again November 4, kidnapping eight civilians in Ghor and taking them to an unknown location, Khaama Press reported.

One civilian escaped, and the group released another one after badly beating him, according to Abdulhai Khatibi, spokesman for the provincial governor. The location of the six others remains unknown.

Widespread condemnation

The kidnappings and murders encountered wdespread condemnation in Afghanistan, where the Afghan people are asking the government to punish the culprit militants.

These incidents are barbaric and inhumane acts against innocent shepherds who had no involvement in politics or war, civil society activists and local residents say.

The day after the first attack, civil society activists and residents of Herat and Balkh provinces marched and protested, condemning the crime and calling the militants "inhumane".

"What happened in Ghor bears a clear message," Najibullah Paykan, a civil society activist in Balkh Province, told Salaam Times. "The militants not only murder our ministers, MPs and military personnel; they murdered a number of our shepherds, peasants and firewood collectors, and this indicates their animosity towards humanity."

"Those who were slain by the hands of militants in Ghor never participated in politics and had no involvement in wars; they were merely a number of hardworking farmers and peasants who were trying to earn a living for their families," Mahmood, a 24-year-old resident of Herat Province, told Salaam Times.

He asked the government to take strong action against the perpetrators and to not let the "savages of the century" take the lives of innocent Afghans.

Haji Muhammad Abdoh, an Afghan parliamentarian, called this event an act of barbarism and savagery. He urged the government to utilise all means in order to destroy the enemies of the people of the country.

During a visit to Ghor Province on November 4, President Ashraf Ghani ordered security forces there to use all means to protect the public and to prevent terrorists from disturbing law and order and from harassing the population.

"Today, there is no conscious Afghan who is not in pain from the disaster of Ghor," he said. "The government is mourning, but it is also determined to take revenge."

Co-operation between citizens, military

The brutal and barbaric act carried out by militants in Ghor has resulted in further co-operation between the people and the security forces, according to Gen. Muhiuddin Ghori, commander of the 207th Zafar Corps.

"All of the security forces in Ghor Province are ready to avenge the blood of the innocent people of that province," he told Salaam Times. "All areas of the province are covered by the security forces, and ISIL and al-Qaeda will be destroyed."

About 1,000 troops along with about 500 members of local anti-terrorism uprising forces are fighting militants in Ghor, he said.

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The same as these wild animals are going toward declination in Iraq, one day, if Allah is willing, they will be destroyed in Afghanistan too. However, there is a difference between Daesh (ISIS) of Iraq and Afghanistan. Daesh (ISIS) of Afghanistan is a project of the Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) through which they are implementing an extension of the Taliban project. It is surprising as, how come Americans are keeping quiet while seeing all of this.

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