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| Afghanistan |
| Talibs have 20 - 30 percent defection rate |
| 2001-10-05 |
The Taliban has a loyalty problem. We've conducted two interviews and we heard in both that there is an element of a 20 to 30 per cent defection rate. You must remember that the Taliban effectively inherited large bands of warriors back in the mid-90s because obviously these people wanted to be on the winning side. It now seems as though large numbers are preparing to, in effect, shop around - window shopping to see who might be on the winning side again. But clearly the Taliban is hanging onto its extreme element. The conscripts are the ones that are leaving. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |