Law and Order Slides in Kabul, Armed Robberies Rise

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Law and Order Slides in Kabul, Armed Robberies RiseKABUL (Reuters) - Amid signs the United States may be preparing to strike Afghanistan (news - web sites), law and order began to break down in Kabul with residents on Thursday reporting armed daylight robberies, looting and shooting by Taliban security guards.The slide toward lawlessness came as a council of Afghanistan's leading clerics met for a second day to decide the fate of the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), after a warning from their leader that the United States was bent on the Taliban's destruction.``There is a sharp rise in thefts,'' said one resident who was robbed in his home at gunpoint.Crime in Kabul, a city once known for its streets lined with roses but pounded almost to rubble by factional fighting in the 1990s, is home to the poorest of Afghanistan's 20 million people.The capture of the capital by the hardline Taliban in 1996 marked the return of law and order as the purist movement imposed its Islamic system of government.Many of the new attacks were carried out by looters posing as members of the Taliban's feared religious police.``Mainly men carrying arms are entering people's homes under the guise of checking to see if they have arms or are watching a movie or listening to music,'' said one resident who declined to be identified.``The owner of the house lets them in because he has nothing to hide. Then he and the rest of the male family members are rounded up and women are forced to hand them over cash or jewelry,'' he said.The Taliban religious police keeps a tight leash on public behavior strictly enforcing rules that require men not to trim their beards and to wear traditional loose Islamic dress, ban movies and music and forcing women always to wear the all-enveloping burqa that covers them from head to toe.Another resident said his neighbor's house was looted by six armed men on Tuesday.``At around noon, a car with at least six armed men parked outside our neighbor's house, but we thought they were probably relatives,'' the resident said.``There was a big shout after the robbers' car disappeared and my neighbor said they took all their valuables. We could not have helped them even if we knew that the men were thieves because they were armed,'' he said.There was no immediate comment from the Taliban, whose shura, or council, was meeting in Kabul to decide the fate of Osama bin Laden and how to respond to the threat posed by the United States attacks.``I have lost everything. We don't know what sort of security the Taliban are saying they have brought to the city and what will happen if there is a strike,'' said one frightened man.The Taliban, in their drive to conquer a country ravaged by more than two decades of war, have disarmed the population and banned guns except those held by their own security personnel.In one attempted robber, Taliban security guards opened fire on a gang of thieves as they tried to enter one house, forcing them to flee, a witness said.Residents said law and order appeared to be deteriorating rapidly in the city from which thousands have fled fearing the U.S. strikes.The U.S. has vowed to hunt down bin Laden -- who lives as a ''guest'' of the Taliban -- and to punish his protectors. The Saudi-born dissident is the chief suspect in last week's suicide attacks on Washington and New York that killed nearly 6,000 people. Email this