Technology

Taliban Now Forcing Afghans to Have Approved Ringtones…Such As ‘Suicide Bomber’

Afghans Uploading Taliban Ringtones to Protect Themselves at Checkpoints

(Photo: Peretz Partensky/Flickr)

Ringtones on cellphones can be an outlet for self-expression, but in Afghanistan such expression outside of one carrying a Taliban message could result in death, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reports Haji Mohammad Khan, a 35-year-old man from Kabul, as saying that songs other than those from the Taliban could make the carrier of the phone seem like a “sympathizer:”

Afghans who travel beyond the capital say insurgents have forced Afghans to eat SIM cards, broken phones on owners’ heads and interrogated travelers for hours about their contacts with foreigners.

“If you are going 30 or 60 miles outside of Kabul, you will surely find Taliban on the road,” said a member of President Hamid Karzai’s government. “If you have Indian music or Afghan music ringtones, they will tell you that you are not obeying Islamic rules and, in most cases, break our mobiles.”

This official said that whenever he leaves Kabul, he routinely carries two SIM cards for his cellphone. One contains the numbers of Afghan leaders, Western officials, military officers and other contacts he needs to do his job. The other is the Taliban-safe SIM card that he pops into his phone outside the capital.

Wired states that “this might be the only measurement you need to judge the Afghanistan War” and that the growth in the market for Taliban ringtones show that the U.S., after 10 years of war, does not control many parts of the countryside. The Journal reports Nasratullah Niazai, a 22-year-old Afghan man who uploads Taliban songs and ringtones to phones, said that in the last year business has been booming.

Afghans Uploading Taliban Ringtones to Protect Themselves at Checkpoints

Nasratullah Niazi (Photo: Dion Nissenbaum/The Wall Street Journal)

The Journal reports that the Taliban’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said they have about 40 singers whose songs “give a lesson in bravery, manliness and protecting the country from the invaders.” Here are the lyrics to some of the songs the Journal includes in its report:

“Teenager”

Your white tender body has been burnt by fire Oh martyr!
Zar, which oppressor has shot you?
I tend to the wounds of your beautiful limbs (and) the dry tender lips and burnt wounds
You are away from your home for the sake of your religion
Oh martyr Zar, Zar, which oppressor has shot you?

“Suicide Bomber”

Young hero, martyrdom seeker (suicide bomber), you went up into flames
You burned like a moth, young hero, martyrdom seeker
You are the Muslims’ atomic bomb
Young hero, martyrdom seeker you went up into flames
You astonished the entire world
Young hero, martyrdom seeker, you went up into flames
You burned like a moth, hero, young man, martyrdom seeker
You destroyed yourself for the love of religion
Young hero, martyrdom seeker, you went up into flames

Wired included this example as a Taliban ringtone:

While Taliban songs uploaded on phones may protect travelers from insurgents, the Journal reports that it can get carriers in trouble with regular law enforcement. According to the Journal, Khan was at a police station in Kabul when his phone rang and authorities questioned why he had such a ringtone. When Khan told the officer he was not a Taliban supporter but used the ringtone as protection during travel, the officer called him a coward.

In addition to using ringtones as a means to control and spread their message, earlier this year the New York Times reported that cell phone carriers were appeasing the Taliban by turning off cell signal at night. The Times states that it happens in about half the provinces and “exemplifies the Taliban’s new and more subtle ways of asserting themselves.”

Comments (44)

  • midnightvelvet
    Posted on December 31, 2011 at 12:45am

    Anybody else find the first verse of the Taliban approved ringtone a bit….creepy? Even beyond the “blow people up” theme.

    Report Post »  
  • weskets
    Posted on December 30, 2011 at 7:27pm

    Well if the Afghan people really hate and fear the Taliban that much, they could simply get rid of them by using Sharia Law against them LEGALLY according to their own beliefs!

    http://partisanpass.com/2011/10/06/using-sharia-law-american-style/

    Yes, they can simply kill them, state they thought they saw them with a Bible or Christian Literature and the killing is absolutely legal. So as far as I am concerned they can either Shut Up and live in fear or do something about it, and it won’t be disputed according to their own laws or beliefs!

    Report Post »  
  • Marsh626
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 10:19pm

    The dreaded synthesizer trend has even reached the taliban…

    Report Post »  
  • MCDAVE
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 7:12pm

    makes you appreciate this county more…Americans are not going to live like those Muslims do….

    Report Post »  
    • Bakko Bomma
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 7:33pm

      They should all get an Achmed the Dead Terrorist ringtone.

      Report Post » Bakko Bomma  
  • 556GreenTip
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 7:05pm

    I’ve got a few ideas for them…

    “Silence! I keel you!“ or ”Oh Holy Crap… I theenk I blew my foot off…” or a few bars of Jingle Bombs…

    Report Post »  
  • c0mm0nsense
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 5:33pm

    If you want more of this then vote Santorum or Bachmann

    Report Post » c0mm0nsense  
    • ICRedifURBlue
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 6:42pm

      Ron Paul would make a GREAT County Commissioner …………but that‘s pushin’ it.

      Report Post »  
  • RAMJR
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 5:32pm

    I’ve got the perfect ringtone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYITD8TMvcM

    Report Post »  
  • elosogrande
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 5:10pm

    This is all none of our business. If the people of Afganistan don’t like the Taliban terrorists, they should kill them all. If that’s unacceptable, they should S.T.F.U. and not call us to do what they are afraid to do for themselves.

    No more of this crap! Our American kids shouldn’t be asked to die, defending Afgan and Iraqi cowards.

    They shouldn’t be asked to die for cowardly Americans either!

    Report Post »  
  • McNamara
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:55pm

    I will pass on the porn…

    Report Post » McNamara  
  • bum
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:42pm

    For some reason, i hear that song in a bob marley buffalo soldier melody…

    Suicide bomber, dreadlock afghan
    he was a suicide bomber
    boom for Mohammed

    If you know you’re history
    then you will know whos da infidel…

    bum  
  • mrsalvage2
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:42pm

    Well, now with the NDAA, if the Obomber does not like your ringtone in the U.S. he sends an Armored Column to corner you in your house, a robot to come ring your doorbell, and a Hellfire Missle right into you just to make things clear the first time.

    Report Post » mrsalvage2  
    • mrsalvage2
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:44pm

      They roasted all those people in Waco, they will be entertained blowing you up as well.

      It is nothing personal.

      Report Post » mrsalvage2  
  • mrfunn
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:40pm

    no thanks,
    I‘m quite sure I won’t be missing anything.
    Except, perhaps, a computer virus.

    Report Post »  
    • mrfunn
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 6:54pm

      FYI:
      The reply above and from @McNamara below was in response to a sales pitch.

      Report Post »  
  • mrfunn
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:18pm

    please,
    don’t give Obama any ideas

    Report Post »  
  • Countrygirl1362
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:07pm

    I thought the current administration thinks the Taliban are the good guys. Are not they negotiating with the Taliban? Why would the so called good guys do something like this?

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:58pm

    Another example of what we will deal with at home under Obama.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • mils
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:08pm

      we lost so many lives, to only completely lose this war..

      totally disgusting. It appears that we cannot win a war, period. Poor leaders, rules,regulations, press.
      Take the gang members out of the military and send them to afghanistan etc as “peace” keepers..

      Report Post »  
  • scrapadapolis
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:45pm

    We left and took the troops.We gave them millions in equipment because it was too expensive to being back.Question why didn’t we booby trap the vehicals left behind.Were gone, their on their own.Omuslum stay out of it.

    Report Post » scrapadapolis  
  • Jenasus
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:42pm

    We are living in the time of Revalations. The scales of time are being held in the hand of one of the Four Horseman, In his other hand he holds a rope that is tied into a noose.
    On side of the scales of time is the “Age of Enightenment” where the truth shall live and the lies will die.
    On the other side of the scales of time is the “Age of Enslavement” where the lies will live and the truth shall die.
    The truth and the light always defeat darkness and lies. There is no where to run and no where to hide. In Hell the ground is black and the sky is red. There are trees without leaves that bend in the wind. It feels like someone is behind you but there is no one there. Only you and your lost soul trapped in Hell.
    The truth will set you free or the lies will keep you in a ball and chain.
    The road to PEACE is paved with FREEDOM.
    Join “The Freedom March” on WASHINGTON DC 2012.

    Report Post » Jenasus  
  • GhostOfJefferson
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:37pm

    I live in a nation that forces me to have only approved toilets in my home, that confiscates 50 to 90% of each plebes real wealth over their lifetime, and that adds 200 pages of law to their books each and every day of the year. If I want to protest, I have to ask government permissions via permits and pay government agents to supervise me (cops), and conducts warrantless searches in homes and on highways with impunity. The “ringtone” distinction seems like a triffling difference with little significance.

    This is my way of saying “this is news, is it?”.

    Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • knighttemplar999
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:36pm

    Taliban are poo eaters.

    Report Post »  
  • doubletap357
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:29pm

    The Taliban are pure evil….they should all be destroyed. Why do these people put up with being oppressesd so badly. they could all rise up in numbers, track down and kill every Taliban in the country. I can only guess that they are content being owned by the taliban. What pathetic people. I guess they deserve what they get.

    Report Post »  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:37pm

      Want a real wake up call as to what is coing on in Afghanistan – watch the show on the G4 channel Bomb Patrol….You should be able to get it on the internet here without cable – http://www.g4tv.com/bomb-patrol/ We should have blasted most of the territory 9 years ago and strangled the enemy out of existance. More like Sherman‘s march to the sea rather than Nancy Pelosi’s garden party tea…..

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:26pm

    I heard they also can only use the I phones that self detonate.

    Banned ringtones by the taliban are:
    Why can’t we be friends
    Sharing the night together
    My Dingaling
    I like big butts.
    Papa Don’t preach
    and
    Who let the Dogs out.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
  • riseandshine
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:24pm

    Psyops

    Report Post » riseandshine  
  • trolltrainer
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:23pm

    As sad as all this is, American involvement is not the answer. 10 years and what do we have to show?

    If we are not careful the same thing could happen here…

    Report Post »  
  • martinez012577
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:19pm

    LOL why are we still there again?

    Report Post » martinez012577  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:42pm

      Things! And Stuff! And um…things!

      Honestly, I don‘t have a friggin’ clue why. I wasn’t entirely certain why we ever went there in the first place, especially since it was a pretty poorly hidden secret that he wasn’t there to begin with.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • Dismayed Veteran
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:01pm

      We went there to hunt down bin Laden. I have no idea why we are there now.

      Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • 1moreOutnumbered
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 11:58pm

      Best thing we can do is leave. Take all of our troops home to protect the HOMELAND. Then leave them to their misery. If they Afghans are willing to be oppressed in such a way who are we to stand in the way of that? We have enough of our own problems.

      Report Post » 1moreOutnumbered  
    • mauijonny
      Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:01am

      Who the heck is gonna show people freedom & liberty in the world if we don’t? Coincidentally, I’m watching Anthony Bourdain right now, talking with the Kurds of Turkey & Iraq. All they keep talking about is how much better things are now that the American’s have gone to Iraq and how gratful they are to have a taste of freedom. For as liberal a putz as Bourdain is, even he had to grudgingly admit that what we did, at least for the Kurds, was good. They‘re also very afraid about the American’s leaving.

      Report Post » mauijonny  
    • 1moreOutnumbered
      Posted on December 30, 2011 at 5:37am

      I agree that everyone deserves freedom and liberty, and that we’ve done a lot of good for people overthere. I was there during the first elections in Iraq in 2005-2006, but our help is starting to become a detriment to ourselves. At some point they need to try and help themselves.

      Report Post » 1moreOutnumbered  
  • lukerw
    Posted on December 29, 2011 at 3:18pm

    It would be nice to have… a Muslim Ring Tone… where the phone blows-up!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • tzion
      Posted on December 29, 2011 at 4:57pm

      I think Israel gave one of those to Yahya Ayyash, called him, and when they confirmed it was him on the other end…

      Report Post »  

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