Wasil Ahmad واصل احمد | |
---|---|
Born |
c. 2005
Urozgan Province, Afghanistan |
Died | (aged 11)
Kandahar, Afghanistan |
Employer | Afghan Government |
Wasil Ahmad ( c. 2005 – February 2016) was an Afghan child soldier, who is best known for commanding a police unit and his subsequent killing by the Taliban when he was eleven years old. [1] His uncle Samad, trained him "in the use of AK-47 and PK machine guns, rockets and mortars as well as satellite phones and VHF radios." [1]
Wasil Ahmad was born in Uruzgan province. The region has been described as "long... a centre of conflict;" Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was born there, and the later president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, led the first Pashtun revolt against the Taliban there in 2001. [2] Ahmad's father had previously been killed fighting the Taliban, and his son later said that seeking revenge for his father's death was his main motivation in going to war. [1] [3] Ahmad's uncle was the Afghan Local Police commander in Khas Uruzgan District, Uruzgan province. He had previously been a Taliban commander, but had changed sides in 2012, and was now fighting for the Afghan government. [4] In summer 2015, Khas Uruzgan- his area of control- was besieged by the Taliban, and Samad was injured. Ahmad subsequently took command of his uncle's unit. [1] [5]
At the height of the Dan Sango [3] siege, Ahmad was commanding 75 pro-government soldiers against an attacking force of approximately "hundreds" of Taliban. [1] The siege itself lasted for 71 days, and Ahmad commanded his squad for 43 of them. [1] He fired both mortars and rockets as well as machine guns from the compound roof. [2] As well as physical fighting, Ahmad was also responsible for communications with the outside world, and the point of contact for the Afghan special forces. [3] When the latter raised the siege in August 2015, [3] Ahmad and 35 surviving soldiers were airlifted out by Afghan and NATO helicopters [6] to Tarin Kowt. [1] According to Samad, the authorities "praised him and his nephew Wasil as heroes." [1]
Following the siege, Ahmad enrolled into school in the fourth-grade, [6] whilst also receiving private tuition at home. [1] He improved his English, although was not "a good student" – possibly, a neighbour later commented, because he had been "highly encouraged by police officials and awarded medals for his bravery" and only "wanted to play with weapons and drive police vehicles as a hobby." [6] He was authorised to carry a pistol to school. [3] On Monday, 1 February 2016, at the local bazaar, [2] on his way to school, [7] he was shot twice [2] in the head by masked gunmen in a motorbike drive-by shooting, in what has been called a "targeted assassination". [3] He later died in a Kandahar hospital [1] and was buried in the local Shahidano cemetery. [6]
Following Ahmad's death, there was controversy as to his precise position in the besieged force. Samad stressed that Ahmad was merely "defending his family," [1] whilst Samad recovered from injuries he had already received. [8] The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, however, said that, since he had been supplied with a gun and a police uniform, this was in breach of anti-child-soldiering laws. [1] The Commission also suggested that the police had themselves endangered Ahmad's life by lauding him as a hero. They had garlanded him 'with plastic flowers' [2] and even held a program at Police headquarters "where his bravery and courage was talked about by officials." [8] The government Ministry of Interior Affairs also denied that child soldiers were used by government forces; conversely, the charity Child Soldiers International has also claimed that both sides used them. [2]
Wasil Ahmad واصل احمد | |
---|---|
Born |
c. 2005
Urozgan Province, Afghanistan |
Died | (aged 11)
Kandahar, Afghanistan |
Employer | Afghan Government |
Wasil Ahmad ( c. 2005 – February 2016) was an Afghan child soldier, who is best known for commanding a police unit and his subsequent killing by the Taliban when he was eleven years old. [1] His uncle Samad, trained him "in the use of AK-47 and PK machine guns, rockets and mortars as well as satellite phones and VHF radios." [1]
Wasil Ahmad was born in Uruzgan province. The region has been described as "long... a centre of conflict;" Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was born there, and the later president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, led the first Pashtun revolt against the Taliban there in 2001. [2] Ahmad's father had previously been killed fighting the Taliban, and his son later said that seeking revenge for his father's death was his main motivation in going to war. [1] [3] Ahmad's uncle was the Afghan Local Police commander in Khas Uruzgan District, Uruzgan province. He had previously been a Taliban commander, but had changed sides in 2012, and was now fighting for the Afghan government. [4] In summer 2015, Khas Uruzgan- his area of control- was besieged by the Taliban, and Samad was injured. Ahmad subsequently took command of his uncle's unit. [1] [5]
At the height of the Dan Sango [3] siege, Ahmad was commanding 75 pro-government soldiers against an attacking force of approximately "hundreds" of Taliban. [1] The siege itself lasted for 71 days, and Ahmad commanded his squad for 43 of them. [1] He fired both mortars and rockets as well as machine guns from the compound roof. [2] As well as physical fighting, Ahmad was also responsible for communications with the outside world, and the point of contact for the Afghan special forces. [3] When the latter raised the siege in August 2015, [3] Ahmad and 35 surviving soldiers were airlifted out by Afghan and NATO helicopters [6] to Tarin Kowt. [1] According to Samad, the authorities "praised him and his nephew Wasil as heroes." [1]
Following the siege, Ahmad enrolled into school in the fourth-grade, [6] whilst also receiving private tuition at home. [1] He improved his English, although was not "a good student" – possibly, a neighbour later commented, because he had been "highly encouraged by police officials and awarded medals for his bravery" and only "wanted to play with weapons and drive police vehicles as a hobby." [6] He was authorised to carry a pistol to school. [3] On Monday, 1 February 2016, at the local bazaar, [2] on his way to school, [7] he was shot twice [2] in the head by masked gunmen in a motorbike drive-by shooting, in what has been called a "targeted assassination". [3] He later died in a Kandahar hospital [1] and was buried in the local Shahidano cemetery. [6]
Following Ahmad's death, there was controversy as to his precise position in the besieged force. Samad stressed that Ahmad was merely "defending his family," [1] whilst Samad recovered from injuries he had already received. [8] The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, however, said that, since he had been supplied with a gun and a police uniform, this was in breach of anti-child-soldiering laws. [1] The Commission also suggested that the police had themselves endangered Ahmad's life by lauding him as a hero. They had garlanded him 'with plastic flowers' [2] and even held a program at Police headquarters "where his bravery and courage was talked about by officials." [8] The government Ministry of Interior Affairs also denied that child soldiers were used by government forces; conversely, the charity Child Soldiers International has also claimed that both sides used them. [2]