Taliban propaganda undermining Afghan government: think-tank (AFP)

KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents use a sophisticated media strategy to portray themselves as stronger than they are and undermine confidence in the government, a leading think-tank says. The administration and its backers must become better at countering this propaganda if they are to defeat an insurgency "that is driving a dangerous wedge between them and the Afghan people," the International Crisis Group says in a new report. The Taliban strangled the media during their 1996-2001 grip on power, banning television. But now they publicise their messages, warnings and claims of battle successes through a website, magazines, DVDs and audiocassettes. They also use pamphlets, nationalist songs and poems and mobile telephones, says the report, Taliban Propaganda: Winning the War of Words?, released this week. "The... [read full story]