Poor and Unemployed, Young Afghan Men Turning to Part-Time Work for the Taliban

Abdullah Jan and Abdul Khaleq are both from the Pushtrod district of Farah province in western Afghanistan. Both are young, unemployed, and seek work as day laborers, for which they get about 200 afghani (4 US dollars) per job.

There is one big difference between them though: while Abdul Khaleq earns his money by digging ditches, painting houses, and other manual labor, Abdullah Jan, not his real name, does so by attacking police checkpoints. He is a Taliban part-timer.

"I am the only breadwinner in our family of eight," said Abdullah Jan, a 22-year-old from a small village. "I went to Iran three times to try to find work, but I was expelled. I was in debt, and my father told me to go to the city. I looked for a job for three weeks, but then my brother got sick and needed medical treatment. He later died. Two of my friends then suggested that I go to the local Taliban."

His mother was against it, said Abdullah Jan, and tried repeatedly to dissuade him. His father, however, kept silent.

"My first assignment was to attack the police checkpoint in Guakhan district," recalled Abdullah Jan. "We killed four policemen, and we lost two of our own. Another one was injured. The fight lasted for two hours, with the real Taliban encouraging us from behind the lines, saying 'go on, further, move, move, move.'

"When it ended, I was paid 400 afghani by the local commander. He said that if I performed better in the future, I would get more money. Since then, I have participated in five more attacks, and I make about 1,000 afghani per week."

Under this ad hoc arrangement, Abdullah Jan is a Taliban for only a few hours per week. Other than that, he goes about his business like any other citizen. He has no gun or any other equipment that marks him as an insurgent, and he does not consider himself to be one.

"I am just fighting for the money," he said. "If I find another job, I'll leave this one as soon as possible."

By some estimates, up to 70 per cent of the Taliban are unemployed young men just looking for a way to make a living. In Farah, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, and other southern provinces, the majority of insurgents are fighting for money, not ideology.

But they are caught in a vicious circle: as long as their provinces are unstable, there is little investment that could generate employment opportunities. However, in the absence of jobs, they join the insurgents, prolonging the violence and guaranteeing that security and development, remain but a distant dream.

Mohammad Omar Rassouli, chief of police of Pushtrod district, confirmed Abdullah Jan's story, pointing to unemployment as the main motivating factor in the surge of these Taliban day-laborers.

"Farah is now dominated by unemployment and poor living conditions," he said. "This is what makes young men join the opposition.

"The number of attacks on checkpoints has risen lately, and the only reason I see for this is that young men are joining the opposition for very small amounts of money.

"The opposition is getting stronger, and we can do nothing. These young men are only armed while they are fighting. Other than that, they are just normal people in their homes, which makes it very difficult for us to identify them."

The job is not without its risks, according to Abdullah Jan.

"I had a close friend, Rahmatullah. He was very brave," he said. "But he was martyred when we attacked the Karez Shekha checkpoint two weeks ago. Since then I have lost interest in this job, and I hope to find something else soon. I do not want to be killed, since I am the sole support of my family."

Abdul Khaleq, meanwhile, does odd jobs in Farah city, the provincial capital. He makes about 200 afghani when there is work to be had. But he does not want to risk his life.