Feral Jundi

When U.S. troops went to confirm that Ashan had in fact come forward to claim the finder’s fee, they were initially incredulous.
“We asked him, ‘Is this you?’ Mohammad Ashan answered with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, ‘Yes, yes, that’s me! Can I get my award now?’” recalled SPC Matthew Baker.
A biometric scan confirmed that the man in Afghan custody was the insurgent they had been looking for.
“This guy is the Taliban equivalent of the ‘Home Alone” burglars,” one U.S. official said.

Now this is funny. This guy actually turned himself in so he could collect the bounty offered on his ‘Wanted’ poster. lol  The poster is below.

On the other hand, if Taliban folks are willing to do this, both intentionally or by mistake, then we should be doing more of this kind of thing.  How about the classic sting operation where you put the word out that a certain wanted individual needs to pick up their ‘free goat’ at a designated location–complete with waiting police.

Or just increase the bounty and put a message on the posters that says they can turn themselves in to collect that bounty. Then capture them and not pay them a cent. If they want to believe they will get paid the bounty by turning themselves in, then let them believe it. War is deception as Sun Tzu would say.

Finally, the other angle on this is that these guys might have it in their mind that the west is going to leave anyways and the Taliban will take over the country soon.  So the Taliban might think in terms of ‘go to prison now and get paid’, and get released in the near future when the Taliban win.

Maybe they do not think a prison can hold them, just because prisons seem to have a hard time keeping prisoners in that part of the world. lol. Who knows, but lets see if we can swindle some more fools into giving up. –Matt

Taliban commander turns self in… for reward on ‘Wanted’ poster
By Kevin Sieff
Sometimes, capturing a Taliban commander requires vast resources and complex operations. Last week in eastern Afghanistan, it required neither.
Mohammad Ashan, a mid-level Taliban commander in Paktika province, strolled toward a police checkpoint in the district of Sar Howza with a wanted poster bearing his own face. He demanded the finder’s fee referenced on the poster: $100.
Afghan officials, perplexed by the man’s misguided motives, arrested him on the spot. Ashan is suspected of plotting at least two attacks on Afghan security forces. His misdeeds prompted officials to plaster the district with hundreds of so-called “Be on the Lookout” posters emblazoned with his name and likeness.
When U.S. troops went to confirm that Ashan had in fact come forward to claim the finder’s fee, they were initially incredulous.
“We asked him, ‘Is this you?’ Mohammad Ashan answered with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, ‘Yes, yes, that’s me! Can I get my award now?’” recalled SPC Matthew Baker.

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