An interesting, if macabre, item in today's Independent about an al-Qaeda graveyard in Kandahar where dead insurgents are buried as martyrs, even today:
"At this desolate place, with red dust swirling around jihadist flags, three old women sit rocking under a shelter, watching families who have come to pray and taste salt kept in dishes over the graves for their supposed miraculous healing qualities.
"The women have been keeping vigil almost every day. Bibi Shah, 58, is one of them, and she insists: 'I have seen a man who was crippled take the salt and then he was better. Hundreds of people come here, from all over Afghanistan and other countries. These men buried here are true Muslims respected by everyone.'
"Western people are not welcome here. 'We used to throw stones at them. Now if they come we shall cut their throats,' said 16-year-old Ali Waleed, waving a knife. This was bravado, but the killings are real enough. Three people I had interviewed six months ago, all associated with women's rights, have been assassinated. They included Safia Amajan, the most senior female rights activist to be murdered in Afghanistan.
"Standing beside the Arab graves, 25-year-old Bari Ali Ahmed spoke of how the infidels had "corrupted" the government of Hamid Karzai and must be driven from the land. 'Because of the infidels we have alcohol and prostitution in our country. They are oppressing our people and it is the duty of good Muslims to take up the struggle.'"
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