Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

With warlords back in charge, some Afghans already miss the Taliban

  • (2 of 2)

    But several wounded al-Qaeda fighters at Mirwais hospital still have plenty of fight left in them. Armed with pistols and grenades, they have been barricaded inside a ward for almost two weeks. Initially, 18 men from Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Sudan forced doctors to treat them. As they recovered from their wounds, nine sneaked out. After dark on Dec. 23, U.S. special forces and Afghan soldiers sealed the building and then used a doctor to trick one man into agreeing to a transfer. Carried out on a stretcher, he was seized by U.S. soldiers. He shouted a warning to his comrades, who barricaded themselves in. "They said the holy Koran did not allow them to surrender; they are fighting jihad," says a doctor. "They want to kill Americans."

    The captured man was taken to the U.S. base, and the Afghans tried to starve the rest out. The Arabs later surrendered a man whose amputated limb had become infected. But the rest have held out, and someone may be sneaking them food and medicine. No one can be trusted in Kandahar.

    1. 1
    2. 2
    3. Next Page