Broken promises forcing former 'reformed' Taliban insurgents to rejoin ranks

Kandahar (Afghanistan), Jan 5: Former Taliban insurgents, who surrendered their weapons to the Afghan government under a reconciliation program, have said that they have no choice, but to go back to fighting as the government has broken promises of providing land and money to them.

Former Taliban commander Mohammed Gul, who renounced his insurgent past after the Afghanistan government persuaded him two years ago, said that he is itching to rejoin the battle.

"This is my obligation, to go back and start fighting. The government said it would give me land and a job if I left the Taliban. They have broken those promises. Now I will break them," The Globe and Mail quoted Gul, as saying.

In 2007, several thousand fighters surrendered throughout the country and Gul's situation reveals the challenges facing Afghanistan's underfunded and often counterproductive efforts to persuade Taliban insurgents to defect.

In the past four years, three million pounds has been steered toward Taliban reconciliation, but evidence on the ground suggests the highly touted program has been a failure.

"We have broken many promises. The government has broken many promises," said General Khan Mohammed, co-director of the Kandahar office of the Afghanistan National Independent Peace and Reconciliation Commission.

--ANI