The Killing Pool

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Fox News

Aziz explained how he had secretly taught English to students by hiding in the basement of that building. He told how the Taliban would storm apartments searching for possessions banned by Islamic law (Sharia). Incredibly, Sharia law permitted them to rape, beat, and kill young girls they caught violating the laws. Numerous girls fled to the rooftop where they jumped to their deaths rather than suffer at the hands of the Taliban. One was Aziz's twelve-year-old cousin.

Next, Aziz drove me to Bibi Mahru Hill, with its breathtaking 360-degree view of the city. We hiked a steep five hundred yards to the top and saw a diving platform. It looked totally out of place. Aziz said that during the nine years of the Soviet-Afghan War, the Soviets had built an Olympic-sized swimming and diving pool there for its athletes to train at elevation.

As we neared the abandoned pool, I noticed a cable suspended from one of the diving platforms, about seven and a half meters above the pool. The cable, made of steel, ended in a slip-knot noose. After the Soviets left Afghanistan, the Taliban seized control and found a use for the empty pool.

"I've witnessed many public executions here," Aziz said. "Some were hanged, some were thrown off the towers like garbage and died on the concrete floor—and not always immediately."

[CNCAppsJames]

Apparently the mostly peaceful taliban were not the users of this pool.