THE TELEGRAPH: A former insurgent in Afghanistan has told how he survived daily battles with British troops and why he decided to join the peace process in what is believed to be the first ever interview given by a member of the Helmand Taliban.
Every morning just before dawn, as the sun rose over the central Helmand plain, Abdul Mohammed would pray to Allah, clean his rifle and prepare to kill British soldiers.
For two years, Abdul, who is married with a young son, served as Taliban foot soldier in one of the most violent and battle-scared areas of southern Afghanistan.
"I expected to be killed in battle – but that didn't worry me," he said. "I never thought about death. If I was told go on a suicide attack, I would have done so. I was a committed Taliban fighter, being with the Taliban was my life.
"The British soldiers were my enemy, they would try and kill me, so I'd try to kill them."
But last month, after seeing hundreds of his friends and family killed in battle, Abdul turned his back on the insurgency and joined the peace process under the Nato-backed strategy of "reintegration".
In what is believed to be the first ever interview by a member of the Helmand Taliban, the former insurgent told The Sunday Telegraph, how he survived daily battles with British troops and why he decided to join the peace process.
Abdul agreed to the interview only after lengthy negotiations between the district governor, an "intermediary" and The Sunday Telegraph.
Until 2008, Abdul and his family enjoyed a simple existence: growing crops, tending his small herd of goats and living in hope that his young son, Babrak, might one day go to school and become an engineer.
But those dreams were shattered when, he says, a violent warlord seized control of his district and began robbing and killing members of his family and friends. >>> Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent in Nad e'Ali | Saturday, March 27, 2010
