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Now, Omari triumphantly stands defender astatine 1 of Bagram’s entrances. The Americans are gone, but the 19-year-old inactive doesn’t recognize wherefore they came successful the archetypal place. Once, helium saw a video of planes hitting 2 gangly buildings connected a day helium can’t recall, helium said.
“But nary 1 told maine the communicative astir what happened.”
Thousands of Americans calved aft 9/11 joined the U.S. subject to service their nation, combat coercion and foster ideology successful Afghanistan. They included some of the 13 U.S. work members killed successful a bombing by an Islamic State affiliate astatine Kabul’s airdrome successful August during the past days of America’s two-decade-long conflict.
In Afghanistan, a parallel procreation of Taliban fighters battled the Americans, their lives besides distinctly shaped by the 9/11 attacks. Many were children erstwhile they archetypal tasted war, trading their childhoods for what they were told was their work arsenic Muslims.
But they grew up successful a satellite wherever the 9/11 attacks were either obscured oregon misrepresented successful their lives. It was an alternate beingness wherever a mislaid procreation of rural Afghan youths had fewer opportunities and ne'er benefited from billions of dollars successful Western assistance wealth that elevated the lives of countless Afghans. Filling the void were Islamic schools known arsenic madrassas that shaped the minds of aboriginal young Taliban fighters, their learning and their childhoods inevitably chopped abbreviated by the lure of jihad, oregon beatified war.
The Washington Post interviewed 14 young Taliban fighters from 7 parts of the state — each calved betwixt 2000 and 2003 — to spot what motivated a procreation to instrumentality up arms against U.S. forces erstwhile it had nary representation of the 1990s Taliban movement, oregon its ouster successful 2001 aft the attacks of Sept. 11. What does their aboriginal look similar successful the caller Afghanistan?
Many joined the Taliban aft U.S. forces attacked their villages oregon killed their relatives. Some despised the corruption of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. Others were urged, adjacent trained, to combat by relatives wrong the Taliban. Preachers astatine their madrassas portrayed Americans arsenic invaders seeking to termination Muslims and encouraged students to wage a spiritual jihad against the foreigners.
The young fighters were besides fed a dependable watercourse of revisionist history astir 9/11 and affirmative imagery of al-Qaeda, particularly its laminitis — the designer of the U.S. attacks, who was fixed harmless harbor successful Afghanistan by the Taliban during its erstwhile rule.
“Osama bin Laden was a leader and a mujahid,” said Sharafuddin Shakir, 19, utilizing the Arabic connection for those engaged successful a beatified war. The thin combatant was surrounded by militants wrong a erstwhile U.S. subject outpost successful Ghazni state that they present controlled.
His comrades nodded successful agreement.
Back successful Bagram, Omari’s teen beingness seemed connected a mean trajectory. He attended school, played each time with his cousins and friends successful Nasru, a colony adjacent to the American basal and astir an hour-and-a-half thrust from the capital, Kabul. His destiny, though, was already preordained.
His brother, 5 years older, was a Taliban subordinate and truthful were his uncles and older cousins. From a young age, they instilled a consciousness that 1 time helium would articulation them.
“This is the work of everyone to combat against the invaders and infidels who occupied our land,” said his uncle Muhammed Karim, 48, successful effect to a question astir wherefore the Taliban recruited children. “Jihad is mandatory everywhere.”
Many of the erstwhile procreation successful the Taliban were besides kid fighters, and successful agrarian Afghanistan, boys are often considered adults erstwhile they are susceptible of wielding a weapon oregon helping the family.
“I was 14 erstwhile I fought against the Soviets,” said Sahijan, a middle-aged combatant with a heavy salt-and-pepper beard, referring to the U.S.-funded run by Afghan mujahideen successful the 1980s to thrust retired the occupying Soviet forces. Like galore Afghans, helium uses 1 name.
One day, Karim and different household members decided to amended Omari successful war. They taught him to marque an improvised explosive device, oregon IED. Then, they took him retired for immoderate real-life experience. Boys were little suspected of being bombers.
“He was 12 then,” recalled Gul Zaman, 42, different uncle, smiling. “He was fixed explosives to works connected the broadside of the road. We took him with america whenever we were carrying retired immoderate operations.”
When Omari was 16, U.S. and Afghan troops learned astir a suicide-bombing ngo that his member was planning. The troops raided Nasru and fatally changeable his brother.
“I was successful people eight, but erstwhile my member was martyred, I near school,” said Omari.
He formally joined the Taliban, replacing his brother. His adjacent assault, helium said, was an ambush of a subject convoy approaching Bagram. He traveled to different provinces, helium said, staging roadside bombings. “In each excavation blast connected an armored conveyance oregon Humvee, 5 to six radical were killed,” Omari said with nary emotion. “I felt blessed erstwhile I successfully attacked a vehicle.”
Omari was motivated by what helium and galore others successful his colony viewed arsenic the brutal behaviour of American forces and their Afghan allies, who conducted airstrikes and counterterrorism raids. Stories of torture and different abuses wrong the U.S.-run jailhouse successful Bagram reverberated done the colony and surrounding areas.
“The overseas troops killed galore guiltless radical successful our country connected misleading accusation by their spies,” said Omari, who is gangly and wiry and wore a camouflage jacket, achromatic Nike sneakers and a headdress with achromatic Islamic markings. In his near hand, helium clutched an American M-4 firearm that helium recovered wrong Bagram.
A fewer months aft his ceremonial recruitment, Omari’s younger member joined the Taliban, arsenic did respective teenage cousins.
They included Qari Mutawakil, who besides had dropped retired of schoolhouse astatine 14 and joined the insurgency aft witnessing abuses by U.S. and section forces, helium said.
In Kabul, his peers were listening to Western and Bollywood music, signs of the caller freedoms ushered successful by the U.S.-backed authorities and Western funding. The lone tunes Mutawakil and his comrades heard were Islamic verses, arsenic ordered by the Taliban.
“I ne'er listened to music, lone the jihadi anthems,” said Mutawakil, a hefty combatant with a boyish dependable who is present 18. “Music is not good. It is simply a sin.”
He began warring successful different provinces aft helium was trained to usage a weapon and marque roadside bombs. His archetypal cognition targeted an Afghan nationalist service base, helium said.
When asked whether helium had heard of 9/11 oregon of planes hitting the duplicate towers, Mutawakil said helium had not, adding, “I was not successful this satellite 20 years ago.”
His reasons for battling the Americans were much nuanced than those of the different fighters.
“They came present to basal retired Islam,” said Mutawakil. “They came to found antiauthoritarian regularisation present and wanted to usage america for their ain interests. They wanted to marque america arsenic they are. They wanted to termination our clerics and destruct our religion.”
Those clerics played an important relation successful recruiting Gul Muhammed Heymat. In the eastbound state of Paktika, helium learned astir the American forces successful his madrassa.
Then, his teachers dictated what was required of him arsenic a bully Muslim.
“They told america astir the Americans, that they person invaded our state and committed atrocities against the people,” said Heymat, present 18, whose wavy achromatic hairsbreadth peeked retired from his skull cap. “We were told to combat jihad against the invaders.”
The clerics ne'er mentioned the 9/11 attacks successful their conversations oregon the beingness of al-Qaeda successful Afghanistan, said Heymat. All the students were told, helium said, was that the Americans came “to support their interests” and “to transportation warfare here.”
They were besides told that bin Laden was a bully Muslim and a mujahid.
Two years ago, Heymat and his puerility person Assadullah Tassal, 21, joined the Taliban, warring mostly against the authorities successful Paktika.
In different madrassas, the extremity was to postgraduate teenage termination bombers.
Muhammad Sajid, 21, knows. His brother, Shamsur, detonated his explosive vest arsenic a convoy of American vehicles passed a decennary ago, helium said. And Sajid was ordered to proceed the contented successful his household 5 years ago. He was sent to a madrassa successful northwest Pakistan, operated by the Haqqani network, an al-Qaeda-linked radical aligned with the Taliban.
“I was myself a would-be termination bomber,” said Sajid, who looks younger than his years. “I got the grooming astatine the Haqqani madrassa.”
He was taught to marque explosives, wrapper them successful a vest and hook them to a detonator. Three years ago, helium was ordered to spell to Nangarhar state and await orders for his operation. But helium was captured by authorities information forces and jailed, helium said. Sajid was released this twelvemonth from situation aft Taliban fighters seized the area. He inactive regrets that helium failed successful his mission.
“I was acceptable to go a martyr,” Sajid said.
In Ghazni, Shakir, too, was acceptable to dice for his beliefs. Like galore of the young Taliban fighters, was ignorant of 9/11. “I don’t cognize astir these 9/11 attacks, and I did not ticker the videos of that attack,” helium said.
He not lone refused to judge that al-Qaeda and bin Laden orchestrated them, but helium questioned whether the attacks adjacent happened. “It was not true,” said Shakir. “The Americans invaded Afghanistan connected the pretext of 9/11, but the existent motive was that they were against the existent Islamic regularisation successful Afghanistan.”
Even elder Taliban officials effort to whitewash the violent act. In August, Zabihullah Mujahid, the apical Taliban spokesperson and acting accusation minister, declared determination was “no proof” that bin Laden was progressive successful the attacks.
As helium stood sentry astatine Bagram, Omari yet learned astir the 9/11 attacks — the mentation his older relatives and comrades wanted him to hear, that is.
“I watched the planes clang into the buildings successful America successful the TV,” explained Sahijan. “That was preplanned by the Americans successful bid to onslaught Afghanistan.”
“No, al-Qaeda was here,” said Karim, Omari’s uncle. “Where was Osama bin Laden killed? He was killed successful Pakistan. What happened connected 9/11 was conscionable an excuse to combat al-Qaeda. But, successful reality, they had planned to onslaught Afghanistan.”
As they spoke, Omari nodded, taking successful their words.
“Let the Americans amusement america impervious that a azygous al-Qaeda subordinate was either killed oregon captured successful Afghanistan,” Karim continued.
“We don’t cognize who did the 9/11 attacks,” Omari said finally.
The U.S. authorities “only announced it nether the sanction of al-Qaeda,” helium added.
On a caller sunny Friday afternoon, scores of fighters of each ages gathered astatine an amusement parkland adjacent Kabul, pursuing the all-important Juma prayers. Some enactment down their guns and hopped connected to a swinging pirate-boat ride. They screamed with delight, seemingly regaining their childhood, if lone briefly.
Heymat and Tassal were astatine the parkland together. It was their archetypal clip successful Kabul, and they were enjoying the sights and activities that had eluded them aft a beingness of war. But that’s each they person ever known. Despite the widening of their world, they cling to a consciousness of value and belonging that the Taliban provides.
“Even now, erstwhile determination is nary fighting, to support information and serving the state is besides a signifier of jihad,” said Tassal. “We privation to beryllium mujahid.”
Other young Taliban fighters inactive spot enemies everyplace and garbage to enactment down their weapons. They person nary choice. Most person grown up with nary acquisition and nary skills.
“Now Daesh has travel here,” said Mutawakil, utilizing the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “They carried retired a weaponry onslaught successful Kunduz the different day. I took up arms to combat for the volition of God and clasp martyrdom, which is simply a respectable mode to die.”
“I volition not find a job,” helium added. “We volition stay with our guns.”
That raises concerns astir whether this procreation of young Taliban members, trained successful warfare and explosives, volition crook to transgression oregon violence, particularly astatine a clip erstwhile Afghanistan’s system is successful free-fall and the Taliban interim authorities is incapable to wage salaries.
Omari, too, has nary plans to permission his perch astatine Bagram.
“I volition not spell backmost to school,” helium said. “I privation to service my state with my weapon.”
When asked whether his parents would object, helium replied, “The Taliban is my family.”
Fatullah Khaiber, 20, was the lone Taliban combatant interviewed who wanted an education. But adjacent this determination is colored by the war: He wants to 1 time thatch astatine a madrassa.
“I volition stock with my students the jihad we fought against 20 years of occupation,” said Khaiber, lasting adjacent a broken-down U.S. armored unit bearer astatine the erstwhile U.S. subject outpost successful Ghazni. “I volition archer them astir the Americans and their acts, however they carried retired nighttime raids and bombings.”
He, too, said that Osama bin Laden was a hero.
Haq Nawaz Khan successful Peshawar and Mohammadullah Aryen successful Kabul contributed to this report.
English (US) ·