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He was a young 17-year old Afghan, hollow-cheeked with the straggly beginnings of a beard. Abdullah had recently moved to a new school near his home on the outskirts of an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan. Abdullah's life was insipid, attending school which he hated most when what he had always hoped for was a spark to light a passion in him. His family was poor and lived on a mere $80 a month from his father's backbreaking menial work at a brick kiln. His father had hoped to give Abdullah a good education so that he could become a school teacher, but Abdullah was just wondering aimlessly through life, waiting to come across something that could excite him. Abdullah often heard from the neighbourhood boys that life in the nearby refugee camp which was controlled by an awesome warlord was better. School in the refugee camp was free, medical facility was abundant and families in the camp were protected by the warlord. It was also a known fact that boys from all over the town and within the refugee camp were often recruited discretely to fight the Americans in Afghanistan. These fighters were the Jihads.
It was during one of Abdullah's usual commute to school, dragging his feet with thoughts of discontentment, that he met Khan. Khan's family lived in the refugee camp and he went to one of the school in the refugee camp. Soon, the two boys became fast friends. Khan would tell Abdullah about battles of the brave Jihad fighters and how they defended their land that had fallen to foreign occupiers. Abdullah was invited to visit Khan's school in the refugee camp where he was inspired by messages scrawled on the blackboards of the upper grade classrooms, such as : “Join the Jihad, the Order of the Almighty Allah” and “Those who want to Repay Their Debt to God, Join the Jihad”. Every morning, the teachers would energize the students with praises of the glories of Jihad and children were taught to sacrifice their lives for their God. Abdullah was in awe of the religious teachings and decided that he had to learn more. From that day on, Abdullah would be out all day at the refugee camp coming home only in the evening. Abdullah's father then began noticing a radical change in Abdullah's behaviour. Where he used to glue his eyes to the miniature television set at home, Abdullah would now avoid the box. He also expressed disapproval of his sister for having the nerve to laugh and make merry while the people in Afghanistan suffered. He even ranted about the improper behaviour and infidelity of non-Muslims. Abdullah seemed to have found what he had a passion for, having shared a sense of brotherhood and propaganda about Jihad. His new found passion was to live honourably in the eyes of God and that meant Jihad. By then, Abdullah was secretly planning to to join an insurgent camp in Afghanistan training for the war against the Americans. One night, he disappeared. When his parents found out, they were utterly heartbroken. He left a note to say that he had joined the Jihad and would return home when his job was done. Soon, Abdullah was heading into Afghanistan from Pakistan through the Khyber Pass together with a few other boys. Two days later, he arrived deep in the mountains of the eastern Afghanistan at a sprawling encampment of caves, huts and tents. There, Abdullah spent more than a month undergoing indoctrination, learning to use various weapons and to manufacture bombs. Upon his graduation from training, Abdullah did extremely well and was sent for further training to fly an airplane in the United States. Never in his dreams had he felt such happiness working for his God. Little did Abdullah know that he was about to make world history doing his God's deeds. When it was time, he took his life as well as many others on his first and last ever mission for his belief - a belief that he was God's gloried warrior but to many, his story was one of Terrorism in the guise of a Tragic Hero.
Links of articles
Troops in Afganistan
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/asia/01orders.html
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/afghanistan-suicide-attack-kills-5-foreign-troops/94978/
Norway Youth Camp Attack
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43854355/ns/world_news-europe/t/least-dead-norway-youth-camp-attack/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/23/anders-behring-breivik-norway-attacks
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