Word: kandahar
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...Americans represent the best hope for now, just as the Taliban did when they wrested control of most of the country from feuding warlords who had delivered only chaos. In the village of Babar Koli, a 22-year-old says he was a guard at Mullah Omar's Kandahar compound. The young man, who would not give his name, says he would not fight again if the mullah himself asked him. He instead wants to continue his religious studies in Kandahar...
...gunman stood sentry near the gates of the compound, waiting for an opening as the departing motorcade approached. Inside a luxury suv was Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, who had come to Kandahar to attend his brother's wedding. His security detail, a clutch of U.S. commandos, rode in a separate vehicle. Karzai was on his way out of the compound of Gul Agha Sherzai, Kandahar's provincial governor, who sat beside him in the car, when he was approached by an Afghan youth hoping to meet the President. A leader known for his affability, Karzai lowered the window...
...this month Hekmatyar declared jihad against Karzai's U.S. allies. Afghan intelligence officials say he has been spotted in Helmand province--the Taliban-friendly region that produced Rahman, who joined Sherzai's guard about two weeks before trying to assassinate Karzai. After the shooting, police and military officers in Kandahar detained 17 Rahman associates for questioning, according to Khalid Pashtoon, a spokesman for Sherzai. "Once the interrogations and investigations are completed," says Pashtoon, "Hekmatyar's name will be mentioned." Some Afghan leaders believe that Hekmatyar's re-emergence has been facilitated by outsiders eager to destabilize the Western-friendly government...
...short term, the most critical mission for the U.S. military may be the one it helped perform in Kandahar last week--keeping Karzai alive. Two Afghan Cabinet ministers have been assassinated this year, and several others, including Karzai, have survived attempts. Given the country's ethnic rivalries and chronic warlordism, the loss of Karzai--a popular member of the majority Pashtuns--could send Afghanistan reeling back toward the chaos that bin Laden found so hospitable. "Karzai has no real power base of his own," says a diplomat in Kabul. "But as a Pashtun leader who has earned real respect...
...their commanders after top brass back home saw photos of bearded and turbaned Americans guarding Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Close shaves were ordered all round. But the suddenly exposed chins proved vulnerable to the sun. "The guys are really burning out there," said a U.S. special operations officer in Kandahar...