BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Militants hanged a teenager for having American money in his pocket and stuffed five $1 bills into his mouth as a warning not to use U.S. currency.
Militants hanged the teen from a tree Sunday in a village in Helmand, the most violent province in the country and the world’s No. 1 poppy-growing region.
“The Taliban warned villagers that they would face the same punishment if they were caught with dollars,” said Wali Mohammad, the police chief in the district of Sangin.
Dollars are commonly used in Afghanistan alongside the afghani, the local currency, though American money is much more common in larger cities than in the countryside.
Militants often justify their attacks and executions as a response to U.S. meddling in Afghan affairs.
Separately, to help track down 12 insurgent commanders, a new U.S. “most-wanted” campaign is offering up to $200,000 for information on a dozen elusive Taliban and al-Qaida leaders
About 200 billboards and 300,000 posters are to go up around eastern Afghanistan with their names and pictures. Rewards ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 are available for information leading to their capture.
“We’re trying to get more visibility on these guys like the FBI did with the mob,” said Lt. Col. Rob Pollock, an officer at the main U.S. base in Bagram. “They operate the same way the mob did, they stay in hiding.”
The list does not include internationally known names who already have a large price on their heads, such as al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden — who has evaded U.S. capture since 2001 despite a $25 million bounty — or Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who is worth a $10 million reward.
Instead, it is filled with local insurgent cell leaders responsible for roadside and suicide bomb attacks.
“We want the people in that area to know who this guy is and know he’s a bad guy, and when they spot him to turn that guy in,” military spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher said Sunday.
The Afghanistan program, which went active in recent days, comes despite peace overtures from President Hamid Karzai, who said Saturday he would be willing to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar if it would help bring peace.
Violence has risen in Afghanistan in recent months. More than 4,600 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on official figures.
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