Talibans have embarked on door-to-door man hunt
The Taliban is intensifying a search for people who worked with US and Nato forces, a confidential United Nations document says, despite the militants vowing no revenge against opponents.
The group has “priority lists” of people it wants to arrest, according to the report, which was provided by the UN’s threat-assessment consultants and obtained by AFP.
According to the dossier, those who held key positions in the Afghan military, police, and intelligence agencies are the most vulnerable.
According to the report, the Taliban has been making “targeted door-to-door visits” to those they want to seize and their families.
Militants are also inspecting people on their route to Kabul airport and have set up checkpoints in important cities including as Kabul and Jalalabad, according to the report.
The Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which offers intelligence to UN agencies, wrote the document, which was dated Wednesday.
“They’re going after the relatives of those who refuse to surrender, prosecuting and punishing them ‘according to Sharia law,” Christian Nellemann, the group’s executive director, told AFP.
“We predict torture and killings for both persons who formerly worked with NATO/US forces and their allies, as well as their family members.”
“This will put western intelligence services, their networks, tactics, and ability to combat the Taliban, ISIS, and other terrorist threats in the future in jeopardy,” he warned.
Informant’recruitment’
According to the article, the militants are “quickly recruiting” new informants to work for the Taliban rule, and they are expanding their target list by contacting mosques and money brokers.
It replicates a letter from the Taliban dated August 16 sent to an Afghan government counter-terrorism official.
The person is asked to report to Taliban officials and “give details regarding the nature of your employment and relationship with the British and Americans,” according to the letter.
“If you do not report to the commission, your family members will be detained in your place, and you will be held accountable.” It states, “You and your family members will be treated according to Sharia law.”
If they criticize the militants, the Taliban may target or arrest remaining Westerners or other foreign people, including medical staff, according to the Norwegian Center for Global Analyses.
A request for comment on the paper was not returned by a UN spokesman.
Since storming back into power on Sunday, the Taliban have launched a public relations offensive, completing a shocking rout of government forces as US and other foreign troops withdrew after a 20-year occupation.
The Taliban have promised full amnesty for those who worked with the Western-backed elected Afghan government, among other pledges such as women’s rights and an inclusive administration.
Afghans, on the other hand, have not forgotten the Taliban’s ultra-conservative Islamic administration from 1996 to 2001, which imposed harsh punishments such as stoning to death for adultery.
Since the Taliban took control of the country, tens of thousands of Afghans have attempted to exit the country, causing pandemonium at Kabul airport.
