Afghanistan: Taliban lead door-to-door manhunt, report says

The Taliban have stepped up their search for people who worked for NATO forces or the previous Afghan government, a UN document warned.

He said activists went door to door to find targets and threaten family members.

The die-hard Islamist group has tried to reassure Afghans since taking power in a lightning attack, promising there would be “no revenge.”

But there is a growing fear of a disconnect between what they say and what they do.

The warning that the group was targeting “collaborators” came in a confidential document from the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyzes, which provides intelligence to the UN.

“There are a large number of individuals who are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear,” Christian Nellemann, who heads the group behind the report, told the BBC.

“It is in writing that unless they surrender, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of these people. “

He warned that anyone on the Taliban’s blacklist was in grave danger and that there could be mass executions.

Foreign powers are continuing their efforts to remove their nationals from Afghanistan. A NATO official said on Friday that more than 18,000 people had been evacuated in the past five days from Kabul airport.

Some 6,000 others, including former interpreters from the foreign armed forces, are waiting for a flight late Thursday or early Friday.

The goal is to double evacuation efforts over the weekend, the official said.

Outside the airport, the situation remains chaotic. The Taliban blocked Afghans trying to flee, with video showing a child handed over to a US soldier.

President Joe Biden, who has come under scathing criticism for what his opponents see as a “chamberlain” US withdrawal, is expected to speak on the evacuation effort on Friday.

In other developments:

• Other anti-Taliban protests took place in several cities. In the capital Kabul, protesters waved the national flag as there were reportedly casualties among protesters in Asadabad
• One of those who died falling from a US plane departing Kabul has been identified as 19-year-old Zaki Anwari, who played for the Afghan national junior football team.
• The Taliban now controls thousands of American-made armored vehicles, 30 to 40 planes and a large number of small arms, US officials told Reuters.

The Taliban captured Kabul on Sunday, after sweeping the country as foreign forces withdrew.

Their victory brought the group back to power 20 years after it was toppled in a US-led invasion.

The group’s previous takeover saw widespread abuses, including public executions and the ban on women in the workplace.

But at their first press conference since regaining control of Afghanistan, the group presented a conciliatory tone, promising that women’s rights would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law.”

The Taliban are said to have pledged not to force women to wear the burqa, a one-piece veil that covers the face and body. Instead, the hijab – or headscarf – will be mandatory.

They also said they wanted “no enemies inside or outside” and that there would be an amnesty for former members of the security forces and those who worked with foreign powers.

International powers – and many Afghans – remain skeptical.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the body’s only leverage on the Taliban was the activist’s desire for international recognition.

When asked in an interview if he thinks the Taliban has changed, President Biden replied no, adding that the group faced an “existential” choice as to whether they wanted to be recognized.