Afghans are fearful and angry following the weekend killing of ordinary people in a popular lakeside park near Kabul by the Taleban.
Afghans are fearful and angry following the weekend killing of ordinary people in a popular lakeside park near Kabul by the Taleban.The rare overnight attack on Thursday/Friday (June 21/22) dragged on for 18 hours at the end of which all seven Taleban fighters and a number of civilian guests of the Hotel Spozhmai on the shores of lake Qargha were left dead.
“We were playing outside the hotel when suddenly we heard firing. We hid under the table,” says Fahim. “We were watching the Taleban walking around, firing at anyone they saw; they were laughing,” adds Sharifullah. The two young men survived the bloody carnage which claimed the lives of 15 civilians, three guards of the hotel and one policeman.
Ahmad Waseel is mourning the loss of his brother. “My brother was working with a non-governmental organisation and had come (to Kabul) for vacation. He went with his friends to Qargha dam. He was laughing when he left. Now he is not amongst us. I ask God to punish those who did this to us,” he says unable to hide the bitterness.
Mindless slaughter
Akeel, another victim, was his family’s only earning member. His mother weeps in distress. “I don’t know what to say,” she cries. “What will happen to us with my son’s death; where will we shelter, who will look after these innocent children,” she asks pointing to Akeel’s much younger brothers and sisters.
Eyewitnesses report the Taleban arrived in a Tunis van (Toyota) car at 11pm. Asadullah, a manager at Hotel Spozhmai, says they entered through the garden, and immediately started shooting at guests and staff members. “Three guards of the hotel were the first victims,” he adds.
He rejects the Taleban claim in a statement issued under the name of their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed that the hotel was a “hub of vulgarity and obscenity”. “The owner of the hotel is a mujahed called Mullah Ezat. He would never permit immoral activities,” he says.
Shafiqullah, who works in the hotel, was lucky to escape. He was hiding under a table when he saw Feda Mohammad being shot in the eye, and killed. “I hoped the attackers would not hear my breathing,” he says. Like other eyewitnesses he also says the men were laughing as they gunned down fleeing people.
Anguished voices
The mother of 17-year-old Feda Mohammad says her son was in grade 12 in school. “He was working on Thursdays and Fridays to support the family; he was also gardening in the house of the owner of the house we are renting,” she adds.
People from all walks of life have condemned the Taleban’s mindless attack on a purely civilian target. Anguished voices have also been heard on social networks like Facebook. Baryalai Hameedi, an Afghan in Australia, writes: “I was not thinking the human being (could) be so rude. I was thinking that there is a war between the government and armed opponents; but now we (have) got to know that the people of Afghanistan are on the opposite side (targeted as enemies) of those who think just about the killing of people.”
Furaidoon Seerat also writes on Facebook: “I don’t know how to condemn the attack, because this action not only puts in question the action of the Taleban, but puts shame on humanity!”
Unpredictable future
Gulab Khan wasforced by fighting between theTaleban and the security forces to move to Kabul from Lugar with his family. “I am aghast, who is God happy with?” he asks. “Those who are not kind to women and children or those who think about humanity?”
He told Killid, “If places of recreation have been changed into places of prostitution (the Taleban claim) it is the job of the government to control and prevent it, not the duty of anti-government groups.”
A victim of a bloody conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, he says, “This is the first time that a recreation park has been attacked. Many mosques are also coloured by the blood of worshippers: what was their sin or fault?”
He is fearful of the future. “There is no place to live in Afghanistan,” he cries. “They have made all the places hell, we don’t feel safe anywhere. Oh God! What a day! Where can we shelter!”
Taleban claims
The Taleban have accepted responsibility for the Qargha killings. They claimed the targets were mainly foreigners. But everyone knows the park with its many small eating places is a favourite haunt of Afghans. Shamshul Rahman, a student, wonders how the Taleban can justify the killing.
Mawlai Azizullah Mufleh told Killid, “Suicide attacks are forbidden (in Islam) under any name or pretext.”
Shukrullah, a shopkeeper in Pol e Surkh, Kabul, says, “Let us accept that there was moral corruption in Qargha park; but can all the people who go there be corrupt, yet all of them were punished (by the Taleban).”
Fazal Ahmad Oria, political analyst, thinks the Taleban have lost their ability to fight security forces; instead, they attack unarmed civilians.
Jailani Zwak, another political expert, believes, “The Taleban wanted a massacre – (the targets were) people who were tired of work and wanted to spend a little time with nature.”
