Wednesday, 7 March 2012

The Taliban Undertaker: the only man trusted by the Taliban to take care of dead fighters                                    
                                         Hakim the undertaker in a cemetery around 10km north of Kandahar city
                                                    Mr Hakim taking care of a grave
Hakim the undertaker               Mourner at Afghan graveyard
Mr. Hakim praying for the dead               He helped this man get the grave of his relative
                                              Tombstone in a cemetery around 10km north of Kandahar city
                                                         One of the graves he takes care of

Mr Hakim, 65, says the local Taliban first asked him nearly six years ago to help retrieve the body of one of their comrades.
He showed the district authorities his volunteer member card for the Afghan Red Crescent - the local counterpart to the ICRC - and then he was given the body.
Soon after, local authorities in Kandahar's Zheray district asked him to retrieve the bodies of five pro-government forces who had been killed on the battle field. The Taliban let him do so.
After that, he became trusted by both sides.
"In total so far I have retrieved 250 bodies - 127 were Taliban, 28 civilians and the rest were on the government side," says Mr Hakim, who is also known as Malik Kako. Malik is the name traditionally given to an elder who has a great deal of autonomy in a village or district.
   

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