U.S. says more than 130 Taliban killed in Afghan west - Afghans say they were civilians

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/U_S_says_scores_of_Taliban_killed_in_Afghan_west.html?siteSect=143&sid=7768334&cKey=1177932209000

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition troops killed more than 130 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan over the past several days, the coalition said on Monday, but thousands of Afghans staged a protest saying the victims were civilians.

The Taliban were killed in two separate battles in the western province of Herat, the U.S. military said in a statement, adding that air support and Afghan forces were also involved.

The deaths triggered an angry protest -- the second in the country in two days -- over what local villagers say was the killing of civilians. snip

Thousands protested in Shindand, storming the district government headquarters and a police compound, saying those killed were civilians, not Taliban.

Police reinforcements were sent in to control the protestors and to block them from marching on the base.

At least 20 civilians were wounded during police firing, several residents told a Reuters reporter in the region by phone.

[slackmaster]

1. I was under the impression that the Taliban consisted entirely of civilians

I can't recall ever seeing one wearing a uniform. Just the black turban characteristic of the Pashtun.

[NNN0LHI]

2. It appears the military is under the same impression

Five years ago the military was telling us that the Taliban had been eviscerated.

Don

[malaise]

3. Surprise?

NOT!!

[Igel]

4. If they're Taliban, all their families get is the body.

If they're civilians, then the families get money.

The US says a civilian is anybody that's not shooting at them or making plans to shoot at them.

The Afghans say a civilian is anybody not in the employ of a NATO country or any international agency--or Karzai's government, or related to an employee of Karzai's government. Kill an aid worker ... not a civilian. Kill the child of a policement ... not a civilian.

Kill a Taliban that's strafing you with an AK-47 and chucking grenades ... well, dammit, he's a civilian. A proud one if he sacrifices humans for his godling.