Taliban sentence Afghan translator’s brother to death



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The Taliban have sentenced the brother of an Afghan translator who worked with US troops to death, according to a new report.

Insurgents accused the man of ensuring the safety of his brother and of helping the United States during the war, according to three letters written by the Taliban and obtained by CNN.

The letters, written in Pashtu, have been delivered to the brother within the past three months.

The first letter ordered the brother to attend a court hearing into the allegations and the second was a notice of no-show.

The death sentence was handed down in the third letter after the Taliban found him “guilty in absentia”, according to the outlet.

“You have been accused of helping the Americans … You are also accused of ensuring the safety of your brother, who was an interpreter,” one of the letters read.

Taliban fighters.
The letters have been delivered to the brother within the past three months.
AFP via Getty Images

“These court decisions are final and you will not have the right to oppose them… You have chosen this path for yourself and your death is eminent. [sic], God willing.”

It is not clear whether the man or his translator brother are still in Afghanistan.

The death sentence stands in stark contrast to public comments by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid a week ago when he vowed there would be no violence.

“No one will be hurt in Afghanistan,” Mujahid said at a press conference. “Of course there is a huge difference between us today and 20 years ago.”

But reports of targeted Taliban killings have escalated amid chaotic U.S. evacuations from Kabul.

Thousands of Afghans – many of whom helped the United States during the war – continue to crowd the Kabul airport where the United States conducts evacuation flights in an attempt to escape Taliban rule .

Biden, who still defends his decision to withdraw despite the botched evacuation, has pledged to get all Americans and Afghans who have helped the United States out of Kabul.

Afghans wait outside the part of Kabul airport controlled by the foreign army.
The death sentence came in the third letter after the Taliban found the man “guilty in absentia”.
AFP via Getty Images

Some 28,000 people have been evacuated since the country fell to the Taliban – including 11,000 in the past 36 hours – Biden said on Sunday.

A total of 33,000 people have been evacuated since July before the fall of the country, he said.

Biden acknowledged that the situation remains dangerous in Kabul, saying: “The security environment is changing rapidly.

Reports of Taliban-targeted assassinations have escalated amid chaotic US evacuations from Kabul.
Reports of Taliban-targeted assassinations have escalated amid chaotic US evacuations from Kabul.
EPA / STRINGER

“We know that terrorists can seek to exploit the situation and target innocent Afghans or American troops.

“We are under no illusions about the threat.

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