PARLAY, Afghanistan, Aug. 8 -- Sifullah is just 14 years old, but he knows enough to be afraid to bring tea.
"If anybody sees me bringing tea, they'll ask me why I am helping the coalition forces," he said softly to a small group of U.S. soldiers and a reporter. "I'm afraid of the Taliban."
Members of the Afghan national army, trained by U.S. Special Forces, on patrol earlier this year in the country's south, where Taliban guerrillas remain active.
(Dudley M. Brooks -- The Washington Post)
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The Taliban guerrillas usually come out at night, walking from the other side of the mountain, Sifullah said. They have long beards and usually dress in white, with big black or white turbans. Often they carry AK-47 assault rifles on their shoulders and 9mm pistols at their sides. Sometimes they have satellite telephones. They search the stone huts of this village for weapons, making the women wait outside.
And they come with a message: Do not help the Americans and their allies fighting in Afghanistan, and do not register to vote in the Oct. 9 presidential election, or you and your family will be killed.
Here in the northeast corner of Kandahar province, still considered a Taliban stronghold more than 2 1/2 years after the repressive Islamic movement was ousted from power, Sifullah's story was corroborated over and over -- by an old man who fled to a nearby village after receiving threats, by a 16-year-old who was held for five hours while the Taliban searched for his older brother, and by a local militia commander whose brother was killed by the Taliban and who now works closely with U.S. forces.
Taliban fighters are abundant in the mountains, they all agree. When U.S. forces are in the area, the guerrillas emerge, staging hit-and-run attacks before disappearing back into the rock-strewn landscape.
U.S. troops say their battle against the Taliban is a classic guerrilla war against an elusive foe who refuses to show his face.
"They're scared," said Capt. Brian L. Peterson, commander of Alpha Troop, a reconnaissance and surveillance unit of the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division, based in Honolulu. "We've got to pry them out of the rocks to come out and fight."
"They know the air power that we command is devastating for them if they try to mass in number, so they are comfortable working at the small-unit level," said Staff Sgt. Joe Schoch, 29, a member of a long-range surveillance team. He added: "The tactic they are using right now is either hit-and-run or bait-and-ambush. As soon as the choppers come, they're dropping their weapons and picking up their goats."
The biggest problem, U.S. soldiers and residents here say, is that as soon as the Americans leave, the Taliban will return. "We are happy that you guys are here," said Sifullah, who wore a green traditional Afghan shirt that was stained and dirty, a cap and black sandals. "But we are worried when you go back. They will ask why we were talking to coalition forces, and who helped them."
To Peterson and Schoch, Sifullah pleaded: "Please, make a base here and stay for a long time. When you are here, they are not disturbing us."
Taliban tactics were underscored as Peterson's unit left Parlay on Sunday, heading back toward Kandahar. At 5 p.m., the convoy discovered the bodies of seven men close to the roadside; all apparently had been killed at close range. Most appeared to have been shot in the back of the head, with the bullet wounds exiting in front, and one seemed to have had his head bashed in.
The soldiers collected the bodies using the only two available body bags, as well as rain ponchos, and carried the corpses on the hoods of their Humvees. The blood was still fresh, indicating that the attack had taken place only hours before, according to an Army doctor traveling with the group who inspected the bodies.
The initial speculation among U.S. troops was that Taliban forces might have executed members of an anti-Taliban Afghan militia. Peterson said the victims also could have been government workers or others helping with the forthcoming national elections.
