--- description: The Taliban gunned down a 10-year-old soldier who had been hailed as a hero by the Afghan government for leading an attack against the group title: Taliban Kills 10-Year-Old Soldier Hailed as War Hero image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaceafb9269c385e2/69887be2524fc0b672df6922/afghan-local-police-militias.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Afghanistan](/tag/afghanistan/) ## Afghanistan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Taliban Kills 10-Year-Old Soldier Hailed as War Hero  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2016 1:13 AM CUT  Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel patrol near their base in Goshta district of Nangarhar province, on Dec. 18, 2012. Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel patrol near their base in Goshta district of Nangarhar province, on Dec. 18, 2012.Shah Marai—AFP/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2016 1:13 AM CUT The Taliban on Monday [gunned down a 10-year-old soldier](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-child-soldiers.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&%5Fr=1 "undefined") who had been hailed as a hero by the Afghan government for leading an attack against the terror group last year. Wasil Ahmad was shot twice in the head by a man on a motorcycle as he walked out of his house in Tirin Kot city to buy vegetables, the New York _Times_ reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the newspaper. The boy had just enrolled in the fourth grade after leaving militia life and was “no threat” to the Taliban, Rafiullah Baidar, a spokesman for the Afghan independent human rights commission, told the _Times_. “If they had targeted him in a military base, then they could have raised the question of what was a child doing in a military base. But he was targeted in front of his home,” Baidar said. > [](https://twitter.com/pajhwok/status/694407303148081152) Wasil was widely praised after he “fought like a miracle,” shooting rockets from a roof and taking command during a Taliban siege last summer, his uncle, Mullah Abdul Samad, told the _Times_. “He was successfully leading my men on my behalf for 44 days until I recovered \[from an injury\].” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-child-soldiers.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&%5Fr=1 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4205401/taliban-afghanistan-wasil-ahmad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4205401/taliban-afghanistan-wasil-ahmad/"},"headline":"Taliban Kills 10-Year-Old Soldier Hailed as War Hero","datePublished":"2016-02-03T01:13:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:10:56.174Z","description":"The boy was known as a militia hero","url":"https://time.com/4205401/taliban-afghanistan-wasil-ahmad/","keywords":["Afghanistan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaceafb9269c385e2/69887be2524fc0b672df6922/afghan-local-police-militias.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaceafb9269c385e2/69887be2524fc0b672df6922/afghan-local-police-militias.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TO GO WITH Afghanistan-unrest-police-by Joris Fioriti In this photograph taken on December 18, 2012, Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel patrol near their base in Goshta district of Nangarhar province. 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