01/29/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09674

AL QAIDA TERRORISTS KILLED

For seven weeks, six al-Qaida terrorists occupied part of Mirwais (meer-wise) Hospital in Kandahar. They were among nineteen al-Qaida gunmen, all from Arab countries, wounded in fighting with Northern Alliance and coalition forces and admitted to the hospital in early December. Some of the nineteen were detained. Some escaped. One committed suicide with a hand grenade. The others barricaded themselves in a room and answered appeals to surrender with gunfire and grenades. On January 27^th, Afghan security troops, supported by U.S. special forces, took action to end the siege. All six terrorists are dead.

The hospital was evacuated before the assault. "We gave them an ultimatum and we said their lives would be spared, but they would not listen," said a senior Afghan official. Five Afghan soldiers were wounded in room-to-room combat.

Al-Qaida's terrorist action at Mirwais Hospital was consistent with the contempt they and their Taleban associates showed for the rules of war and the norms of civilized behavior. In late November, ten wounded Uzbeks, serving with the Taleban, were admitted to the public hospital in Taloqan. A search revealed that they were concealing bombs, grenades, and other weapons. They planned to kill themselves along with foreign journalists and senior Northern Alliance commanders. The hospital was crowded with wounded Afghan soldiers and civilians. Had the terrorists succeeded many patients and hospital staff members would have been killed and the hospital would likely have been destroyed.

By targeting hospitals, al-Qaida and the Taleban point up their savage disregard for human lives, including those of children. They also demonstrate their blatant hypocrisy. For weeks, they and their apologists falsely accused U.S.-led coalition air forces of deliberately bombing hospitals. In fact, coalition forces took great care to avoid bombing of civilians and civilian property. It was the Taleban and Al-Qaida who put hospitals, mosques, schools, and the civilians in them at grave risk by deliberately placing tanks and other weapons nearby.

Al-Qaida and Taleban gunmen, such as those now being detained by U.S. authorities, were best described by President George W. Bush. As he said, "These are killers; these are terrorists." The U.S. will treat them accordingly.