“We hate the Canadians and we hate the Taliban.” [View All]

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060809.wafghanistan09/BNStory/International/home

Battles leave Afghans nowhere to turn


KANDAHAR AND SARTAKHT, AFGHANISTAN — Rozi Mohammad had been digging for hours and he was nowhere near finished.

“I am digging because I will not leave this village like I left my home village,” the 24-year-old said, his three children by his side. “When the bombs come again we will hide in here.”

Like hundreds of families who live in Pashmul district, Mr. Mohammad had left his home among the fertile grape fields 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city that have been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between Canadian troops and Taliban rebels. He thought he was safer here in Sartakht village. Though still in Pashmul, it's closer to the main highway and closer to Kandahar city. He was, however, not taking any chances, and so he began digging.

The villagers in this rural area are put in an impossible position. “The Taliban are forcing us to give them food and shelter and the coalition are bombing us,” said Sultan Mohammad, a man of 50 with five children who also fled. “We hate the Canadians and we hate the Taliban.”