Taliban launches PR campaign

The Washington Times‘ Claude Salhani writes this morning that the Taliban, after two decades of terrorizing the Afghan people, has decided to change their image. They’ve issued a little blue book entitled “Rules for Mujahedeen”;

The manual admonishes fighters to:
c Avoid civilian deaths, civilian injuries and damage to civilian property.

c Restrict suicide attacks to “high value” targets.

c “Behave well” to win over the “hearts of Muslim civilians.”

c Avoid discrimination based on tribe, language or geography.

I’m sure that this will cleanse folks minds of incidents of throwing acid on the faces of schoolgirls, murdering teachers, suicide bombings in markets, murdering government workers and their families.

Al Jazeera says that this more about Mullah Omar trying to consolidate the Taliban;

“We have in the past had a lot of different groups in Afghanistan operating under the umbrella of the Taliban,” Bays said.

“But it says in these regulations that if you find an irregular battalion that is not obeying orders then what you have to do is find that battalion and then disarm them.”

Here’s an English Al Jazeera report on the book;

Treatment of Taliban’s prisoners may improve;

“A brave son of Islam should not be used for lower and useless targets. The utmost effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties,” the book says.

There are now clear guidelines on how the Taliban will treat its prisoners as well.

“Whenever any official, soldier, contractor or worker of the slave government is captured, these prisoners cannot be attacked or harmed,” it says.

“The decision on whether to seek a prisoner exchange or to release the prisoner with strong guarantees will be made by the provincial leader.

“Releasing prisoners in exchange for money is strictly prohibited.”

It’s a little different that the book of rules they issued three years ago.

Category: Terror War