“An updated Taliban code of conduct urges fighters to avoid killing civilians and forbids them from seizing weapons and money, a directive aimed at winning hearts and minds of Afghans also being courted by international forces. But the document declares that people working for international forces or the Afghan government are ‘supporters of the infidels’ and can be killed. …[Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammad] Omar urged fighters to kill anyone working with international forces or the Afghan government, including women, according to NATO. …’The Taliban must treat civilians according to Islamic norms and morality to win over the hearts and minds of the people,’ said the 69-page Taliban booklet, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday [August 3, 2010] from a Taliban fighter in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak. ‘All efforts must be made to avoid harming civilians in attacks,’ said the booklet, which the insurgent said began circulating in Afghanistan 10 days ago [July 24, 2010]. …The new code of conduct, which was published at the end of May [2010], is an update to a similar set of directives released a year earlier that limited the use of suicide bombers and mandated that prisoners cannot be harmed or ransomed without the approval of a Taliban regional commander.” [The 31st of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Matiullah Achakzai, “Taliban Code of Conduct Seeks to Win Hearts, Minds,” Associated Press, Aug. 3, 2010