Source: The Guardian
(Author): (Reuters in Kabul)
Hackers have for the third time in less than a year attacked the main website of the Afghan Taliban.
The Taliban has blamed western intelligence agencies amid an intensifying cyberwar with the insurgents.
The unidentified hackers broke into the Taliban’s El Emara website twice on Thursday, replacing usual insurgent victory messages with images of executions and support for the Afghan government and security forces in English, Arabic and Pashto.
Some photographs showed women being shot in the head or hanged by former Taliban executioners, while another showed two women in head-to-toe burkas being beaten.
“Violence is wrong in all its forms, especially the encouragement by the Taliban of cowardly betrayal and the senseless murder of innocent civilians,” a screenshot from Afghan Pajhwok News showed the message as saying in English.
“The Afghan security forces are accountable to Allah and the Afghan people, and seek to restore peace as the foreigners leave the land,” it said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters that the website was hacked around 12.30am on Thursday and fixed in three hours, before being breached again at midday and put out of commission again. It was still being repaired on Friday.
“It was hacked again by enemies and foreign intelligence services,” he said. “The enemy tries to push its propaganda. The enemy is worried by what gets published in our webpage. It’s confusing for them, so they try to react.”
Nato declined to comment.
Categories: Afghanistan, Crime, Crisis, Death, Extremism, God, Human Rights, Law and Religion, Politics, Poverty, Sharia, Taliban, Terrorism, United States, War, Women, Women Rights