In Kabul, mercy amid mayhem

Hares's last stand is hardly the stuff of legend.

A Taliban straggler who was left behind as the radical Islamic militia fled the Afghan capital, Kabul, he - along with three comrades - was chased and beaten by a band of angry residents.

As the crowd turned on the Taliban fighters, Hares and his comrades turned, fired back at the charging mob - killing one rebel Northern Alliance soldier and wounding another - and then waited for certain death.

Hares was shot in the shoulder and groin by an alliance soldier; another escaping Talib was hit by a bullet in the leg. But instead of a mob killing, the Taliban fugitives were saved by their enemy.

"We were told the alliance would be merciless if we were caught," says the stringy-haired young student from an Islamic religious school in Pakistan. "I can't believe they are taking care of me," he adds, sitting at the foot of a rebel tank and fingering his dark wood prayer beads. His purple tunic is still stained with blood and covered with flies.

The charging rebel forces have reportedly commited several atrocities during their sweep across Afghanistan.

But in a nation long used to war, where the grim list of past massacres, summary executions, and revenge attacks seems as relentless as the beat of a military drum, there are also signs that the alliance is becoming increasingly vigilant about curbing abuses.

With the Taliban on the run, the Northern Alliance human rights performance will translate directly into how its rule is accepted on the ground - and could determine whether Afghanistan suffers more civil war, or will be able to build an inclusive, stable peace.

"We rescued them," says Commander Kamran, whose unit came across the fleeing fighters as they rolled into the city. "Our commanders ordered us not to kill prisoners, but to save them."

Kamran, in fact, dressed their wounds himself. Yesterday, he ordered a truck to take them from his base to a downtown hospital run by an Italian relief agency. They arrived with a note that read: "Treat them, on condition that we get them back."

Not all Taliban fighters - who have been responsible for a string of atrocities of their own during their five years of rule - have been so lucky. Some, like Hares, were flushed out in Kabul, but met grisly deaths at civilian hands. Independent witnesses have seen at least one execution of an Arab Taliban fighter during the rebel advance on the capital.

A United Nations official in Islamabad, Stephanie Bunker, told reporters that they had heard several accounts - though unconfirmed - that Northern Alliance rebels rounded up and killed more than 100 Taliban soldiers in Mazar-e Sharif on Saturday.

Alliance officials deny that occurred, and say their troops are under strict instructions to observe human rights.

Page: 1 | 2