Taliban 'jail children as young as ten'

The Taliban is jailing children as young as 10 in Kabul to root out dissent, it is claimed today.

US bombing is said to be causing chaos among the Afghan leadership, but, according to French journalist Michel Peyrard, who was held by the Taliban for 25 days, the biggest threat to the extremist regime is its own paranoia.

He said his fellow detainees included several children. On one occasion the nephews of an escaped political prisoner - aged 10, 13 and 19 - were rounded up. The eldest was tortured and subjected to a mock execution. The Taliban also jails leaders and military commandersfor being traitors on only the flimsiest evidence.

The reporter highlights tensions between ordinary Afghans and the Taliban. One guard told him: "These mullahs only think of themselves. When the Americans started their bombing, they put their families out of harm's way in Pakistan. But I haven't seen my wife for two months."

Another guard said : "It was a great honour to join the intelligence services but now I'm fed up. I want to listen to music again. One day, God willing, I will get out of this hell."