Villagers attacked Taliban rebels who had blockaded a road and were confiscating music cassettes from passing cars in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday. Two militants and a villager were killed.
After seizing and breaking the cassettes, the insurgents informed travellers that music is forbidden by Islam, said Abdul Wasai, the government chief in Spin Boldak district, where the fighting occurred on Monday.
The Taliban used the same claim to justify destroying thousands of music cassettes and videos while the militia held power from 1996 to 2001.
Ten militants had seized dozens of cassettes from travellers before the villagers attacked, Wasai said. The militants were also searching for anyone linked to the country’s United States-backed government, but none was found.
Seven villagers and two rebels were also wounded in the fighting and police later arrested the insurgents. The rest fled across the nearby border into Pakistan, he said.
The militants had earlier gone to the village and demanded food — a common occurrence in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, where the rebels are strongest.
It is unusual for villagers to launch attacks against the Taliban, especially in areas along the Pakistan frontier where there is a lot of militant activity and the insurgents are most likely to carry out reprisals.
The violence occurred close to the site of a January 16 suicide bombing that killed 21 civilians at a wrestling match. It was the deadliest such attack since the Taliban was ousted and sparked nationwide protests against the militia.
While the Taliban enjoy support from some villages in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan because of ethnic and religious similarities, many people are opposed to their hardline policies, such as their ban on music and education for girls.
Fighting last year left about 1 600 people dead, the most since 2001. More than half of the dead were suspected militants killed in clashes with United States-led forces.
The latest fighting comes as international donors opened a two-day conference in London to discuss aid needs over the next five years. – Sapa-AP