December 28, 2011
For Safety, Afghan Travelers Upload Taliban Ringtones
Fearing Taliban retribution in the countryside, Afghan officials, police, translators and others are uploading Taliban ringtones to their cellphones, and scrubbing the phones of links to the coalition and government. The Wall Street Journal reports.
Afghans who travel beyond the capital say insurgents have forced Afghans to eat SIM cards, broken phones on owners' heads and interrogated travelers for hours about their contacts with foreigners.
"If you are going 30 or 60 miles outside of Kabul, you will surely find Taliban on the road," said a member of President Hamid Karzai's government. "If you have Indian music or Afghan music ringtones, they will tell you that you are not obeying Islamic rules and, in most cases, break our mobiles."
Read full article. Image above left, Nasratullah Niazai, in his Kabul shop. He sells Taliban videos and ringtones for customers to show on cellphones.
Related articles:
-- Ringtones single out Talibans
-- Kirkuk Ringtones Reflect Rivalries
-- In Iraq, having the wrong ringtone can get you killed
-- Baghdad Brigade Sunni militia look for mobile phones with “unIslamic” ringtones
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