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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Elise Blanchard in Kandahar

‘I am sure they will change’: Taliban swap guns for pens to learn about human rights

Three Taliban members in traditional outfits sit writing at a desk in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters turned policemen answer questions at the end of a course on international humanitarian law aiming to teach them how to protect civilians, Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 March. Photograph: Elise Blanchard/The Guardian


Around a conference room table, young Taliban fighters quietly listen to an instructor teaching them how to behave with civilians.

Awkwardly armed with notebooks and pens, most of the 25 fighters turned policemen have never been in a classroom before. They have spent most of their young lives as combatants in rural areas, and under their ample traditional outfits, their wrist-sized ankles betray how undernourished they are.

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