Taliban, Afghanistan's Killer

Jakari Henderson

5/29/13

10A

Humanities

           Taliban, Afghanistan's Killer

Did you know that the Taliban are responsible for over 77% of casualties that happen in Afghanistan?  With this staggering statistic it explains the violence and trouble going on in Afghanistan. Afghanistan use to be once a place of prosperity that ran off of culture, and diversity. When the Taliban came

they not only annihilated a whole civilization but a culture.

Since 1996 there has been violence from the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan. Recently in 2012 the UN has finally decided to take action and stop the Taliban. Their main goal was to first collect civilian casualties from previous years leading up to 2012. The graph shows that since 2006 there has been a rise in casualties.

Year	Anti-govn't forces	Pro-govn't forces	Other	Total	% change	% of Taliban Killings
2006	699	230		929		75.24
2007	700	629	194	1,523	63.94	45.96
2008	1,160	828	130	2,118	39.07	54.77
2009	1,630	596	186	2,412	13.88	67.58
2010	2,037	427	326	2,790	15.67	73.01
2011	2,332	410	279	3,021	8.28	77.19
2012	2,179	316	891	2,754	-8.84	79.12
TOTAL, 2007-2011	10,737	3,436	2,006	16,179		66.36

From this chart we see the killings from both the Antigovernment forces (rebels), and the Pro Government which add to the total of the kills per year. The % of Taliban killings have went up and down from 2006. It’s all time high was in 2011 going from 77.19 to 79.12. In total they have accumulated 66.36% of killings in Afghanistan within the past six years.

Woman in Kabul, Afghanistan have been victims for many years. In the book The Dressmaker of Kahir Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon it shows they’ve been victimized. The book is about the Siqdi family and there life under the rule of the Taliban. Women aren’t allowed to go to work, school or leave there houses. During the story it switches perspectives from the main character Kamila, and her older and independent sister Malika. In Chapter 2 a prime example of the how the Taliban’s treated woman is shown. If a woman did go outside they were required to wear some to cover their faces called a chadri. “Where is your chadri?” one of the men shouted at his victim as he lifted his arms above his head to strike her. “Why are you not covered? What kind of woman are you to go out like this?” (Lemmon, 14). The Taliban had assaulted an innocent woman in the street for not obeying there rules.

We as students can make a difference. As the next generation we make the biggest difference upon the new world. Our opinion counts the most, and we make the biggest difference. We can do things ranging from donations to families, to actually handing out flyers around our own areas to make

the situation more known. Every little thing helps out.