[BREITBART] Taliban...Arabic for
students...
jihadists in Afghanistan are increasingly targeting Islamic scholars, known as Learned Elders of Islam, to silence dissent and criticism as the terrorist group continues to capture territory and expand its influence across the country.
"The reason the Taliban resort to such acts is that they want to make sure their legitimacy is not questioned by the sermons of these Learned Elders of Islam," Mohammad Moheq, a prominent Afghan scholar of religion who also serves as an adviser to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
, told the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
(NYT).
"The only thing that undermines their legitimacy is the ability and power of these Learned Elders of Islam if they preach and argue against them," added Moheq. "Only they can challenge the Taliban’s ideology, not the liberal scholars or others, and the Taliban understand that."
"The reason these Learned Elders of Islam are getting targeted is because they tell the truth -- and the truth is that the ongoing fighting is just for power," noted Mawlawi Khudai Nazar Mohammedi, the chief of the Ulema Council in Taliban stronghold Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province, located along the Pakistain border next to Kandahar province, the birthplace of the terrorist group.