Taliban Gun Down Kandahar Deputy Mayor While Praying In Mosque

The Taliban have respect for nothing- not for women (who they treat like animals) nor the sanctity of their Muslim religious edifices, and they have absolutely no respect for the sanctity of life. They indiscriminately target anyone, including innocent men, women and children. They even had the audacity to murder, in cold blood, the deputy mayor of Kandahar, Azizullah Yarmal, on Monday night as he prayed, no less. Inside a mosque. The Sadozo Mosque, where the attack took place, is close to Kandahar's largest marketplace, and occurred during evening prayers with dozens of people in attendance. The fact that he was the only one gunned down indicates he was the one the assassins were after. The fact that he was killed during prayers, inside a mosque makes it even more egregious. Is nothing sacred to them?

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It appears not, since they have been upping their attacks on pretty much anyone. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, if you serve the city of Kandahar in any way you can pretty much guarantee that you will eventually be targeted.

In the meantime, serving as a municipal or provincial official in Kandahar has become one of the country's most hazardous occupations. [snip] the deputy mayor killed Monday night, was the latest in a roll call of local dignitaries marked for death in recent months by insurgents.

"Measures are being taken to strengthen the government system in Kandahar; therefore the enemy is trying to target government officials to slow this process," said Zalmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

He's not the only one who has been killed, in recent months.

The attack came less than two months after the slaying of Majid Babai, a popular cultural affairs minister for Kandahar province. Gunmen on a motorbike cut him down Feb. 24 as he walked on a Kandahar street.

The problem is, that even though in the cases where they are targeting individuals these goons often miss and the target isn't the only one to lose their life. Innocent people wind up losing theirs, as well.

And they really could care less. That same day the mayor was shot, innocent children were blown up as a donkey with a bomb was detonated with a remote control as it drew near a police checkpoint.

And Yarmal isn't the only one to be murdered in a mosque,

Lal Mohammad Khan, a tribal elder in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, was killed last week in circumstances chillingly similar to Monday's slaying; he too was shot dead in a mosque.

And apparently it doesn't even matter if you're a janitor; as long as you are somehow affiliated with the government you might be targeted. One poor janitor in Kandahar was killed while cleaning a government building last week. As if he deserved to be cut down for just doing his job, sweeping the floors.

The mayor of Kandahar, Ghulam Haider, had this to say about his city:

"Such miserable things are happening in Kandahar," he said.

I'd change Kandahar to Afghanistan.