Thousands of displaced in Kandahar face uncertainty after Taliban offensive

KANDAHAR -- Thousands of families in Kandahar are facing bleak prospects as the Taliban continue to intensify their fight in breach of the Afghan peace process.

Fighting over the past few months has forced thousands of residents of Arghandab district to flee to Kandahar city, situated about 10km away, with many facing severe food shortages.

Taliban operations in the area began in January and have continued ever since.

Mohammad Rahim Malik, 64, a resident of Dand Qalacha village in Arghandab district, was forced to leave everything behind in his village in early January.

"The Taliban are fighting the people," Malik said.

The militants are forcing civilians to leave so that they can use their residences as bases, according to Malik. "Everybody is fed up with their cruelty and brutality."

The Taliban ordered Malik and other 18 families in his village to abandon their homes, he said.

"We are now renting a place in Kandahar city's Dand Chowk neighbourhood. We do not know what might have happened to our garden and livestock... As far as I know, our village has become the front line and the Taliban have planted land mines in and around our gardens," he said.

"Earlier you said that you were fighting the Americans, but now there are neither Americans nor infidels," Malik said, addressing the Taliban. "Have our crops, houses, roads and mosques become infidels?"

"Four weeks ago, when everyone was asleep, suddenly at 3am, we heard loud sounds," Rahimullah Girani, 32, a resident of Shah Mohammad village in Arghandab district, said on February 13. "Our children and women started screaming."

"When I climbed onto the roof, I saw the Taliban roaming the village streets and attacking a security checkpoint near our house," said Girani, who now lives in the Bagh-e-Pul area of Kandahar city.

A Taliban leader used the public address system of the village mosque to demand food and tea and to order residents to evacuate the village, according to Girani. More militants were coming to clear the area of government troops, said the leader.

"My wife, mother, sister-in-law, and children all cried and said that we had to go elsewhere or else we would all die," Girani added.

"As we were about to leave, the Taliban knocked on the door and told us to go immediately. We had to leave everything behind. We spent the cold night on the bank of the Arghandab River. By the time sun came up, we were able to reach Kandahar city," he said.

"We do not have anything to eat or wear, but we're grateful to neighbours who sometimes help us," Girani said. "I have learned that because of the fighting, three of our gardens were destroyed and 35 of our animals died. We have also heard that the Taliban have dug tunnels in our houses and connected all the houses to each other."

About 9,500 families from Arghandab, Maiwand, Panjwai and Zhari districts have been forced by Taliban fighting to flee their homes, according to local officials in Kandahar.

Dost Muhammad Nayab, director of the Kandahar Department of Refugees and Repatriations, said that his department is continuing to provide assistance to those displaced.

"We have provided basic facilities to many families and will continue to help them with more emergency assistance," Nayab said.

Converting homes into military bases

The Taliban are using civilians' houses as bases in Arghandab, Maiwand, Panjwai and Zhari districts, confirmed Gen. Faridullah Mashal, the former security chief of the Kandahar Police Department who on March 25 became police chief of Kunduz province.

Government forces have launched an operation to oust them, he added.

"Unfortunately, the enemy uses civiliians' houses as bases from which they attack security forces," Mashal said. "As the Taliban continue to use civilian houses as shields, we are doing everything possible to make sure civilians are not harmed."

"Compared to the past, the Taliban combat strategy has changed," said Shabir Ahmad Khpulwak, 30, a civil society activist in Kandahar city.

"They now force residents to leave their homes, villages and mosques. They then use those places to wage their un-Islamic war."

"I call on the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire," he said. "They should stop fighting for the interests of other countries [Iran, China and Russia] and make sure that the ongoing intra-Afghan peace process succeeds."

Mawlawi Abdul Satar Kandahari, imam of the Aino Mina mosque in Kandahar city, urged the Taliban to stop killing innocent Afghans and to join the peace process.

"You say that you were not harming civilians, children, unarmed men and women; however, you have attacked civilians in Arghandab, Zhari, Maiwand, Panjwai and Arghistan districts as well as in Helmand Province," Kandahari said, calling on the Taliban to join the peace process.

"Stop destroying our country and killing innocent civilians. You are forcing residents out of their homes, killing children and women. These acts are against human and Islamic values."

Habibullah, a 14-year-old resident of Shinshang village in Arghandab district who goes by one name, is one such victim.

A mortar attack in early February wounded Habibullah as he was on his way to school.

"It was 7am in the morning, and when I was going to school, suddenly I heard a loud sound," said Habibullah. "I realised something hit me as six of my classmates and I were going to school. We were knocked unconscious and later found ourselves in the hospital."

Habibullah said that when he woke up, his mother informed him that he and his family had been displaced from Arghandab district and were taking refuge in Karz village.

"What sin have we committed? Why do the Taliban kill and beat us? Why do they force us to leave our homes? " he asked.