Afghan boy's strangling symbolises Helmand challenge

But there has been one incident, more than any other, that illustrates the brutality of this 10-year-old war, and the depths of the violence that still exists in Helmand today, despite the hopes of transition and the continuing presence of international troops. Last Friday a boy was kidnapped from his home in Gereshk by a group of insurgents. His name was Ibrahim. Officials said he was just eight years old, though his family say he had just turned 12. Either way he was an innocent bystander in this conflict. The insurgents told Ibrahim his father had been injured in a car accident and promised to take him to the local hospital. In reality they wanted Ibrahim to blackmail his dad, a local police officer called Daoud. While they held Ibrahim the insurgents rang Daoud saying he would have to handover his green police pick-up truck, for the safe return of his son. At first Daoud thought it was a joke. When the voice on his phone started swearing, he simply refused. The gang of insurgents were deadly serious. Days later Ibrahim's body was found dumped in a ditch. He had been strangled. The Taliban have denied responsibility, but Daoud is certain they were behind his son's murder. He asks who else would have wanted a truck with police markings?