Elder captured, another beaten for standing up to Taliban

AFGHANISTAN

09.15.2010

Courtesy Story

NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan

Taliban fighters in the Khakrez District kidnapped an Afghan elder Sept. 15 and beat another who refused to be captured.

The beaten village elder sought medical treatment at a coalition forces strongpoint for a wound to the head earlier in the day.

Sharafudin, a village elder in the Khakrez District, was approached by three insurgents at a mosque in Karzalay and was told “you are coming with us.”

“When he refused, they smashed his head with the butt stock of an AK-47,” said a civil affairs officer with Special Operations Task Force – South.

Sharafudin is being treated for his injuries by coalition forces.

Hajji Reyes Barakzai, known for supporting his village and resisting the insurgency, was kidnapped by four insurgents on motorcycles.

The insurgents came to the mosque in the village of Khosay and forced Hajji Reyes to get on the motorcycle and go with them.

It was unknown where he was taken, but it’s believed the kidnapping took place because of his work with coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan.

Reyes once told his village: “There will be no harboring the Taliban. You will not give them water, food or guesthouses.”

“These acts of intimidation from the Taliban will not be tolerated,” said Lt. Col. Mike Sullivan, operations officer, Special Operations Task Force – South. “Our forces, along with our Afghan counterparts, will pressure, pursue and punish those responsible for conducting these atrocities.”

• Date Taken: 09.15.2010
• Date Posted: 09.18.2010 00:24
• Story ID: 56518
• Location: AF