Taliban raised on war bring a heavy hand to security role

The Taliban are trying to keep discipline over thousands of young fighters who bring heavy-handed methods of war into their new roles as security forces in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- As they headed home at night from a wedding, everyone in the car went quiet when they approached the checkpoint in Kabul manned by two Taliban with automatic rifles.

One of the fighters shone a light into the car. Fatima Abdullahi was in the backseat, her two children perched on her lap, squeezed between her younger sister Zainab and a work colleague. The fighter waved them through.

Seconds later, two shots rang out. Zainab slumped against her sister. Abdullahi screamed, pleading with her to wake up. Zainab, 25, was dead.

“I took her face in my hands but she didn’t move. Then I saw behind her there was blood, and she had been shot,” Abdullahi recounted to The Associated Press.