HOW HE SEES IT Taliban issues warning to Afghanistan enemy

By BORHAN YOUNUS
INSTITUTE FOR WAR & amp; PEACE REPORTING
ANDAR, Afghanistan -- The streets of this city, located in the southern province of Ghanzi, are unusually quite these days. The sound of donkey hooves or the rattle of an occasional bicycle has replaced the usual rumble of car, trucks and motorbikes.
The disappearance of most motorized means of transportation is the latest sign of the continuing struggle between the government and the Taliban insurgents who dominate this predominantly Pashtun province.
After a surge in violent attacks by Taliban forces earlier this year, the government in April banned all unregistered motorcycles from the road, hoping to eliminate the insurgents' favored means of attack.
In response, the Taliban issued their own decree, ordering all vehicles off the district's roads. Those who violated the ban, they promised, would become prime targets for attacks.
The net effect of the dueling decrees has been the elimination of practically all motorized forms of transportation from the district's roads. It's a testament to the fact that local residents fear the Taliban much more than the government.
"We very rarely see a police patrol or a government team come to our village, but we see armed Taliban patrolling the area every day," said Rahmatullah, a shopkeeper in Safaraz village. "Whom should we fear more?"
"This is a test of who rules the area," said one Taliban commander, who did not wish to be identified by name.
Warning
The Taliban had warned that they would step up their campaign of violence this year, calling 2006 "the year of defeat" for the enemy.
In recent months, Ghanzi, about 70 miles south of Kabul, has been the scene of some the Taliban's most brazen attacks. According to one government source, 28 officials have been gunned down by insurgents in Andar alone in the last six months.
The most widely publicized incident, which occurred in mid-March, was the assassination of the province's former governor, Taj Muhammad, and Qari Baba, who had recently taken over as security chief for the district. He had vowed to put an end to the insurgency.
Local government officials insist they are in control of the region and that residents can go about their daily routines normally.
Abdul Rahman Sarjang, police chief of Ghazni province, said that there are no restrictions on the movement of vehicles or people in the province. "There are many ... roads in Andar and nobody can block all of them," he said.
Interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai also denied that any area was under the control of the Taliban. But local residents tell a different story.
Zahir Khan, a resident of the village of Rustam, said that more than a dozen Taliban supporters, riding motorbikes, arrived in his village recently, handing out flyers warning local residents to avoid traveling by car.
"You risk your life traveling by car in Andar now," he said.
In the days immediately after the ban on cars, the insurgents shot out the tires of four vehicles that ventured onto the road.
The Taliban edict has turned many residents into pedestrians.
"Some people end up walking to the provincial capital on foot," said Zahir Khan.
Jandad Khan, a bus driver who travels regularly from Andar to the provincial capital of Ghazni City, said that government exerts little authority on most of the province's roadways.
"The real authority in the countryside is in hands of the Taliban who are patrolling in the area freely, without any fear, day and night," he said.
"It looks like 100 years ago. Everyone travels by bicycle or donkey. They do not dare to bring their vehicles on roads," he said.
Taliban boast
The local Taliban commander, who declined to give his name, boasted that government forces are reluctant to confront the insurgents directly.
"Their strategy is to avoid the Taliban," he said. "We see police in checkpoints along the roads standing idle. We pass by them constantly."
According to this militia commander, the Taliban are winning in Andar, not only because of better equipment and tactics, but also because they have the support and sympathy of the local population.
"We are gaining influence among the people," he said. "We had very few sanctuaries in the district two years ago, but now there is a place for us in every village."
X Borhan Younus is a journalist in Afghanistan who writes for The Institute for War & amp; Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization based in London that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.