Soviet Atrocities in Afghanistan
During the Soviet military aggression in Afghanistan, over one million Afghans died and millions more were wounded or left to fend for themselves without the benefit of food, water, medical care, or housing. There were also numerous eyewitness accounts of incredible cruelty atrocities and acts of cold calculated murder. One such act was observed by a doctor in September of 1984 who witnessed Soviet troops in a Afghan village: “They tied them up and piled them like wood. They poured gasoline over them and burned them alive.”
An Afghan resistance leader recounted how Soviet soldiers treated civilians who were left behind when another village was abandoned: “The Russians tied dynamite to their backs and blew them up.” Another eyewitness described a fiendish practice that Russians used to extract information about the mujahadeen
(Muslim freedom fighters): “They would slowly roast a child over fire”.
The Soviets also, reportedly would encircle villages, enter every dwelling, and kill every inhabitant, including old men, women and childre;. before leaving, they would burn down the entire village.[1] A 1986 report gives a chilling account:
“In three small villages near Qandahar, last year, the Soviets killed close to
350 women and children in retaliation for a Muhajahadeen attack in the
vicinity. After slitting the throats of the children, disemboweling pregnant
women, raping, shooting and mutilating others, the Russians poured a
substance on the bodies which caused instant decomposition.”[2]
Angelo Rasanayogan, offers an analysis of the frustration of fighting an elusive opponent and the tactical brutality of the Russian invasion, in his book, Afghanistan: A Modern History:
“The frustration of waging what appeared to be an ‘unwinnable war’ against
uuconventional guerilla forces, denied the Soviets the prospect of ever hoping to permanently pacify the countryside or to expand the areas under their control. The mujahadeen were like Mao Tse Tung’s fish in the sea, and the
Soviets in the mid-1980s began to adopt a policy aimed at draining the sea
itself. Civilians were driven out of their homes as Soviet forces indiscriminately bombed villages and destroyed crops, orchards and irrigation
systems, and scattered anti-personnel mines over large tracts of the country-
side where a guerilla presence was suspected”.[3]
Other eyewitnesses describe harrowing incidents of cruelty and almost unspeakable butchery:
“The Russians took 14 of us and made us stand in a line near this wall. Two
Russian soldiers stood in front of us with machine guns. We began reciting
The Holy Kalima from the Holy Qur’an, because we knew we were about
to die. They machined gunned everyone of us. I fell. There were a pile of
bodies, all on top of me. The soldiers searched us and took our money.
They moved me but I just pretended to be dead.”[4]
An unidentified Soviet soldier described what he perceived as, “..no such thing
as a peaceful population, they were all guerrilla fighters. I remember how we once rounded up all the women and children, poured kerosene over them and set fire to them. Yes, it was cruel. Yes, we did it, but those kids were torturing our wounded soldiers with knives.”[5]
Another Russian describes the wanton lack of regard for human life, and what he perceives as reasons for the Soviet soldiers propensity to kill without restraint:
“A young soldier might kill just to test his gun, or if he’s curious to see
what the inside of a human being looks like or whats inside a smashed
head. But there is also the fact that if you don’t kill, you’ll get killed.
It’s a feeling of being drunk on blood. Often you kill out of boredom
or because you just feel like doing it—it’s like hunting rabbits.”[6]
Maynom, an Afghan villager from Laghman province, describes a living hell:
“The rockets were falling all around us like leaves off a tree. My daughter’s head was smashed open. Her brains were hanging from a branch. I lost
Everything–my cousins, my nephews, everybody was killed–my wife,
four children.”[7]
With the numerous methods of inflicting suffering and devastation on a defenseless civilian population, there are none as revolting and as devilish as the purposeful targeting of children with the dispersal of millions of land mines.
Many of these explosive devises were designed to look like toys, and were fashioned in bright colors to attract the curiosity of children. These land bombs
were shaped like butterflies, or kites, or made of translucent plastic (making them especially irresistible to unsuspecting children. Apparently, the purpose was to murder and to maim chidren who the Soviets feared would mature into freedom fighters. This practice, while either ignored or overlooked by Western media, is documented by independent news sources.[8]
Taliban Atrocities
The term Taliban has become almost synonymous with human rights abuses and dogmatic zealotry. The evidence shows that this is deservedly so. Howbeit, there are players behind the scenes, lurking in the shadows, who have played an integral part in launching the Taliban into a major power in Afghanistan.
No doubt, the facts that support cruelty and barbarity on the part of the Taliban are indeed numerous. Later in this section I will attempt to shed some light on how those countries in the region and in the West, facilitated the Taliban’s rise to
power, and how they initially ignored its human rights violations so long as it was believed profitable and expedient to do so.
Reports by human rights investigators, indicate that on August 8, 1998, Talibn militiamen and zealots, slaughtered 5,00 civilians in a veritable orgy of mass killing and bloodletting. Reportedly, Taliban militiamen hunted down members of the Hazara ethnic group (Hazara are Shia Muslims considered apostates by the Taliban) and systematically killed them in several ways. Some were riddled with bullets as horrified family members looked on. Some were put to the knife, others were temporarily imprisoned and then summarily murdered in groups by makeshift firing squads. Still others were packed like cattle into tractor trailers and left to suffocate in the sweltering sun. Later, according to eyewitnesses, the dead bodies were dumped like garbage into twisted, grotesque heaps.[9]
Some of the human rights abuses that the Taliban are accused of include: torture
and ill treatment, including beatings in public places, judicial floggings and amputations. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were displaced or fled the country
as a result of the Taliban’s intolerable and harsh policies.Also, Thousands of Tajiks, were forced from their homes, by the deliberate destruction of water supply and irrigation systems. Likewise, thousands of people were held for periods of up to several months on account of their ethnicity. Hundreds of women were beaten by Taliban guards in detention centers or in public places, including shops, streets,
and bus stops for defying Taliban decrees. Thousands of men were detained and beaten for alleged un-Islamic behavior or for being accused of not following policies declared by the Taliban.[10]
US and Pakistani Support of the Taliban
Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, there were reports that the United States and Pakistan actively supported the Taliban and ignored human rights violations by the Taliban regime. This was done to promote geo-political leverage and power in the area and to facilitate the the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the region of the Eastern Caspian Sea, through Afghanistan.
A’ad Abukhalil reports in his revealing book, ‘Bin Laden, Islam and America’s New War on Terrorism.’ :
What remains mysterious is the extent of America’s involvement in the rise of the Taliban. In a recent interview, the former Saudi Ambassador to Afghanistan, maintains that the US was directly involved in the sponsor-
ship of the Taliban because they were anti-Iranian. There is no question
that the US tolerated their emergence, and it was no coincidence that
their regime, that extended official recognition to the Taliban, were also
close allies tothe US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan.
None of these regimes withdrew their recognition of Taliban authority
over Afghanistan untilafter September 11. And we have no information
regarding American displeasure with the recognition prior to that date.[11]
The United States government has a long and sordid history of turning a blind eye to the crimes of brutal dictatorships, so long as these regimes are supportive of
US economic and political desires. Somoza in South America, the Shah in Iran, apartheid in South Africa, Noriega in Panama, and Papa and Baby Doc in Haiti, are but a few examples.
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