Is the Taliban reading Feral Jundi? LOL. Actually, the Taliban have been attacking cell towers for awhile now. But in this post, I wanted to post why they are attacking the mobile phone. That people are actually turning in these guys, using the mobile phone is kind of cool and is definitely some proof of concept material for the ‘Crime Stoppers’ concept. And the fact that mobile phones are becoming vital to the Afghanis.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about text messaging and counter-insurgency. That commanders in the field, or at least the war planners must take advantage of these technologies and develop a SMS plan and crowdsource the local populations.
It sounds like to me, that this is happening to some degree, and that is great. And with the Taliban destroying cell towers out of protest, this only helps our cause. If the local populations come to depend on the mobile phone, and really enjoy the power of the mobile phone, and the Taliban take that away, then that will only help us to win over the local populations.
So this is what I would do. Flood the market with more cheap mobile phones and cheap service, set up cell towers in villages and pay these villages very well to protect that tower(or post police or private security), and reward the local populations for their love of the cellphone with interactive radio entertainment and promotional deals. Get them to use those thumbs and vote on soccer games and songs and anything of entertainment value. Get them hooked on the phone, like it was a drug.
What do I mean by this? The cellphone is addictive. It’s like a drug almost, and when people get a taste of everything it can do, then they get hooked. For me, I don’t go anywhere without my phone. I make sure the service is paid for, and that it is fully charged, and I really take care of it. The reason why, is because it is my only connection to my network and it is an important part of my life.
It is also the tool I need to make money, because companies call me on the phone to offer me jobs. It is also my way of establishing relationships, or maintaining relationships. And it is a tool that I can use to save my life by calling the police or the doctor. I can even vote with the thing, in the various polls that radio and TV stations promote.(elections, American Idol, etc.) Or, if I get wind of some information about a bad guy, I can text or call Crime Stoppers and actually turn the guy in for a small reward.
My point is, that the same uses I have for this phone, are the same uses that everyone in the world has for the phone. It is a powerful and universal tool that we can use in this war, and I tried to explain that in my other post about the topic.
So now we have the Taliban fearing the cellphone? Awesome. And just like in Haiti, when the people protected the cell towers because they wanted to protect the phone service, we can see the same thing in Afghanistan. If I was part of the Afghani Government, I would make the issue of the cellphone and text messaging a vital issue that needs to be protected. Those phones symbolize freedom, and the Government would be wise to help protect that. It would be just one way for them to win over the local populations.
The other thing I wanted to mention, is that if you are reading this, and you are developing a SMS plan out there in the war, then you need to read the book Crowdsourcing. It lists the ten rules of crowdsourcing and they are pretty universal, in terms of application. I would be crowdsourcing the local populations of Afghanistan and Iraq like you can’t believe, to get all kinds of interesting information.
I would also do what I could to get phones into the really remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It sounds like the mobile phone industry is doing pretty good in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, but it could do better with a little help. Flood the market, give the locals a taste of this thing, and make sure they know where to go to get more of it.
As for the particulars of how to crowdsource the populations to get information, I would leave to the local intelligence guys. I do know that the current radio stations that are sending out music and messages on the airwaves, are the one way you can reach these remote areas and communicate with them. One of the rules for crowdsourcing is that you must offer a reward or give the people something for their efforts. That could be money, or entertainment. If you want to get something from the crowd, you have to give something to the crowd. –Head Jundi
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Taliban Orders Daytime Phone Shutdown, Too
Posted by Susan Hall on October 21, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Following attacks meant to enforce the Taliban’s orders for mobile phone operators to shut off operations at night in Afghanistan, the operators now are being ordered to shut down during the day in the Ghazni province southwest of Kabul, reports Reuters.
Several towers have been destroyed in the south, angering residents who depend on cell service as their only means of communication. NATO and Afghan officials say the Taliban want to keep villagers from ratting them out to authorities.
The story, though, says threats have been only partially carried out in the south and networks operate freely in the north, where it’s more peaceful.
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Taliban text message threats
Posted 7/24/2008
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have created a sophisticated media network to undermine support for the Afghan government, sending threats by text message and spreading the militia’s views through songs available as ring tones, according to a report released Thursday.
The International Crisis Group report comes as the Islamist militia that was ousted from power in Afghanistan by the 2001 U.S.-led invasion is making a violent comeback, particularly in the country’s south and east.
The Taliban’s propaganda exploits civilian killings by foreign forces and corruption in the U.S.-backed government to add to Afghans’ disillusionment about their lives, according to the report by the Brussels-based group. It said the Afghan government and its foreign allies should respond more quickly to their mistakes and highlight the Taliban’s atrocities.
Many of the messages that have been distributed — apparently not always directly produced by the Taliban — come in the form of songs, religious chants and poetry that appeal to Afghan nationalism and Islamic pride.
Some of the tunes are available as ring tones for phones, and cassettes include songs such as “Let me go to jihad,” the report said. Some people reported that they kept the cassettes as a form of protection in case they were stopped by Taliban.
One poem — “Death is a gift,” on Al Emarah — included the phrase, “I will not kiss the hand of Laura Bush.”
The Taliban movement also has a website, Al Emarah, or The Emirate, which has various domain names due to attempts to block it. The Taliban also publish pamphlets and magazines, and their communications come in multiple languages including English. DVDs and audio cassettes also are used.
Because illiteracy is widespread in Afghanistan, and many Afghans have little to no access to the Internet or television, the Taliban also use traditional means of communication to spread their message. They often send shabnamahs — fliers that are often distributed at night in an area. Often the letters threaten people who work with international forces or the government, the report said.
The report also said that Taliban media play up civilian casualties caused by foreign forces but deny involvement in most bombings that kill a large number of ordinary Afghans. Because of the poor security situation, independent journalists often have a difficult time verifying claims of either side.
But the media messages at times underscore the loose, disorganized nature of the militancy.
The report notes that the Taliban as well as the Hezb-i-Islami network of warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar each claimed credit for a suicide attack in Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in November 2007.
Later that year, the Taliban website announced the dismissal of a Taliban commander, but the commander’s spokesman rejected it, telling reporters it was a “conspiracy by some elements within the Taliban movement,” the report said.
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Taliban destroy second cell tower
Sun, 02/03/2008
Taliban fighters destroyed a cellular phone tower in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, making it the second time insurgents attacked a cellular tower this week. Fresh reports indicate a third tower, located in Helmand’s Sangin district, was also destroyed but officials have yet to confirm the attack.
Last Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned Afghanistan’s five major cellular carriers to stop providing service at night or face attacks by the Taliban.
The Taliban have long believed Afghanistan’s wireless phone providers allow Afghan and Coalition forces to trace phone calls made by Taliban operatives.
A spate of high profile strikes against known Taliban leaders last month led to the recent accusations by the Taliban. Mullah Abdul Matin and Mullah Abdul Bari, both senior Taliban commanders in Helmand province, were killed during operations launched by Coalition and Afghan forces.
On Friday, insurgents burnt down a cell tower owned and operated by Areeb services in the volatile Zhari district in Kandahar. The district chief and the police chief of Zahri both confirmed the incident to Pajhwok News service.
On Sunday, insurgents vandalized then burned down critical components of a cell tower outside Kandahar City. Police officials told the AFP that insurgents scaled the tower early this morning while it was still dark and removed critical parts before setting them ablaze. The tower belonged to Roshan services, Afghanistan’s largest wireless provider.
There are currently 3.4 million cell phone users in Afghanistan with service available to 70% of the country.
The destruction of cell-towers and the disruption in service is likely to stir the ire of the local population who rely on their cell phones as their primary source of communication. Decades of war and lack of development allowed traditional phone services to fall to the wayside of easier and faster digital technology utilized by cell-phones.
Story Here
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Taliban attacks on phones backfiring?
Strategy has created 250,000 angry Afghans in south
The Associated Press
updated 2:40 p.m. PT, Wed., March. 26, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan – Taliban attacks on telecom towers have prompted cell phone companies to shut down service across southern Afghanistan, angering a quarter million customers who have no other telephones.
Even some Taliban fighters now regret the disruptions and are demanding that service be restored by the companies.
The communication blackout follows a campaign by the Taliban, which said the U.S. and NATO were using the fighters’ cell phone signals to track them at night and launch pinpoint attacks.
About 10 towers have been attacked since the warning late last month — seven of them seriously — causing almost $2 million in damage, the telecom ministry said. Afghanistan’s four major mobile phone companies began cutting service across the south soon after.
The speed with which the companies acted shows how little influence the government has in remote areas and how just a few attacks can cripple a basic service and a booming, profitable industry. The shutdown could also stifle international investment in the country during a time of rising violence.
But the cutoff is proving extremely unpopular among Afghan citizens. Even some Taliban fighters are asking that the towers be switched back on, said Afghanistan’s telecommunications minister, A. Sangin.
That dissenting view shows how decisions made by the top-ranking Taliban leadership can have negative consequences for lower-ranking fighters in the field, the minister said.
‘Problems’ acknowledged by Taliban
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid hinted in a telephone interview that the group could change its tactics.
“We see that some people are having problems, so we might change the times that the networks are shut down in the coming days,” Mujahid said.
That the Taliban could dictate when the country’s mobile phone networks operate shows the weakness of the central government and the international forces that operate here, said Mohammad Qassim Akhgar, a political analyst in Kabul.
“After the Taliban announcement, they were aware of the situation, and still they couldn’t provide security for the towers,” Akhgar said. “Maybe destroying a few towers will not have any effect on the government, but the news or the message that comes out of this is very big, and all to the benefit of the Taliban.”
All four of the major phone companies — Roshan, AWCC, Areeba and Etisalat — declined to comment.
Sangin said the government is not overly worried about the Taliban threat because Afghans are becoming increasingly angered by the shutdown. He said seven destroyed towers, and three others with minor damage, out of the 2,000 now in the country was “not a big thing,” though he added that the towers cost from $150,000 to $300,000 each.
“Our view of the people targeting the telecom infrastructure is that it’s not a fight against the foreign troops, it’s not a fight against the government, it’s actually targeting the people, because the result of such activities is that the people will suffer,” Sangin said. “We believe the people will stand up and provide protection for the telecom towers.”
Haji Jan Ahmed Aqa, a 45-year-old farmer from the remote and dangerous Zhari district of Kandahar province, said the loss of cell phone communication at night is a big problem.
“What do we do if someone is sick?” he asked. “How can you agree to this Taliban demand? Maybe next the Taliban will say they have a problem in the daytime, and they’ll shut down the network at daytime as well.”
5.4 million users across country
Afghanistan’s cell phone industry has seen explosive growth since towers first appeared in late 2002, Sangin said. The country now has 5.4 million cell phone users, and the industry has invested more than $1 billion. Sangin said he expects another $500 million in investments over the next two years.
Attacks on towers have taken place across the south, where the Taliban is most active. Companies have shut down service primarily in Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul provinces.
An official with knowledge of the situation said about 10 percent of the country’s towers were being turned off at night, affecting up to 300,000 people. He spoke on condition he not be identified because he wasn’t authorized to release that information.
The shutdown, Sangin noted, is causing problems both for civilians and for militants.
“In these provinces I’ve actually received reports where the Taliban has gone to some towers and told the companies not to shut them down, and keep them running,” said Sangin. “I get the feeling that they are already regretting their decision to shut down the services.”
Telecom outlook: ‘Pretty good’
Simon Baker, a Moscow-based analyst with the telecommunication firm IDC, said that despite the attacks, the outlook for the telecom industry in Afghanistan is still “pretty good,” given the country’s large untapped user base.
“There are substantial amounts of capital behind it. I think people will try to find a solution to this,” Baker said. “Major international players will take the longer term view.”
Sangin said the Taliban’s stated reason for wanting the networks shut down — because the U.S. and NATO can track militants’ movements — doesn’t make sense, because the fighters could simply turn their phones off or remove the batteries. He said the military has other ways to track the militants.
U.S. Ambassador William Wood told reporters last month that the threat could cause investors to hesitate.
“I don’t think that it’s a serious threat because the Taliban relies on cell phones, too,” Wood said. “But you can see how that would be a problem for a private investor.”
Sangin, the telecommunications minister, said the Taliban closed down a cell tower in Ghazni province about four months ago, but that villagers demanded it reopen.
“The people said please … repair the infrastructure and we will guarantee the security of the tower,” Sangin said. “We believe that if the Taliban continue with these kinds of activities the hatred will increase against them, and as a result we are awaiting a change in their policy.”