AFGHAN FIGHTING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16521, 23 August 1919, Page 3

AFGHAN FIGHTING.

HOW THE RAIDERS WORK

The present situation on the Afghan ; holder savours of operations on a more \ extended scale than the usual border i raids which are continually occurring along the North-West Frontier. It may very likely happen that the whole affair will fizzle out into a series of these so-called '‘tip-and-run" escapades for which the unruly elements among the tribesmen are so famous (says a Daily Ala it correspondent). On the other hand, it is quite likely that a sudden wave of fanaticism, with Iho added assistance of .Bolshevist propaganda, will set the whole frontier ablaze. The. ordinary raid is as a rule a matter of loot, burn, and back again across the border before the Foreign Constabulary can come to the rescue, and it generally takes place in a small town or village‘'where a number of wealthy Hindu merchants reside. As often as not, one of these unfortunates is carried olt and held to ransom. _ Picture to yourself a vast plain, in places many miles wide, bounded on its southern side by low, rocky hills which arc. topped again by rugged mountains, and you have the general sotting of the Indian frontier. Along the foot of the low hills where the passes debouch into the plain' are placed, at intervals, tho constabulary outposts, while the bigger passes are guarded by tribal militia, among the most famous of them being the Khyher Rifle,s 11 the historic Khyber Pass. On the southern side of the plain lie, the cantonments, garrisoned by regular iioops ready to move out at a moment’s notice. Silently a hand of about a hundred men is making its way on a dark night through the hills in single file. They are clad in rough sheepskin coats and loose, baggy trousers, with grass sandals on their feet. All are armed with long knives and daggers, and many eari'y rilles. Dirty clothes wound round their heads serve as a head-dress. As they approach the edge of tho plain the leader halls, and the hand divides into two parties. One parly continues to advance across the plain, while tho other follows after half an hour’s interval, 'The. duty of the first party is to surround the village and give warning should the villagers he ; on tho alert. j The second party has got .well on its j way when tho cry of a jackal resounds . tluough the night air. The leader halts . and then, with a muttered “All’s well” ! moves forward again, unslinging his | viflo ns ho goes. Soon thoy ;m v on tho outskirts of the village, and then with i .shouts and yells to frighten the luck- j less villagers, they begin to harry and i plunder. Two hours later the hand is making its way back through the hills at a swift pace. At their head; and prodded into unwilling activity by knives, a fat Hindu shambles along up the stony pathway. If his price is paid he will return.’ IT it is not. Wall 1 Wah 1 j Bismillah! What matter if there is