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American Morning
Some 1,600 of Taliban's Enemies Freed Recently
Aired December 13, 2001 - 07:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As we watch the war unfold in Afghanistan with the bombing and the ground combat, it's easy to lose sight of what America's Afghan allies have been fighting for. Under the Taliban's harsh Islamic rule, Afghanistan was a nation in captivity. Girls locked out of schools, women forced to stay wrapped in burqas, afraid to reveal their identity. Many men, even little boys, locked behind bars under the most primitive conditions.
Some 1,600 of the Taliban's enemies were freed recently. Jason Bellini caught up with them in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're still rediscovering the little things, like the scent of an apple.
"It's been five-and-a-half years since I had an apple." The man puts his apples away for later. He's observing the Ramadan fast.
The big things, hugging their families, sleeping in their own beds, still awaits them when they finally get home after years of Taliban captivity.
You don't look very happy. You look very tired.
"I'm not tired," the man tells me. "The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was hard, and I'm a little bit ill. I'm sorry, I can't speak very well. You should talk to some of the other men here."
"We didn't have any fruit or meat in prison, so I'm sick and weak. I can't go to the bathroom right now."
The men wait to receive money from the International Committee of the Red Cross, $10 at most.
Right after their release from prison, the new Kandahar government gave them a gift of 500 Afghan rupees, less than 50 cents.
In the evening, the former prisoners get a lift to the Security Ministry. The mood has changed since the afternoon -- more upbeat.
No tears as they described what they've endured. Mohammed Darif (ph): "The Taliban behaved like fascists towards us, like people in the second World War. Through my three years in prison, I witnessed 40 people die from beatings and starvation."
More men arrived from Kandahar just in time for dinner. They embrace. Tomorrow, they'll go their separate ways.
(on camera): The prisoners say they lived on bread and water, some of them for more than seven years. Tonight, they'll get a good meal. For some of them, this will be their first good meal since being released from prison. Come tomorrow, they'll continue with their journeys home to reunite with their families.
(voice-over): Nothing fancy -- bread, lots of it, cookies and hot tea. If the men are disappointed by the menu, they give no indication. This meal could never compete with what they're expecting at home.
Yeoman Otten (ph) was 12 years old when the Taliban imprisoned him. Now, he's 16.
"When my mother sees me for the first time, she'll hug me and hold me and cry, of course."
The embrace of a mother, the taste of an apple, these men know better than most of us how cruel and how sweet life can be.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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