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The Taliban are 'intensifying' their hunt for Afghans who helped the US and NATO, says a private intel report to the UN

Aug 20, 2021, 17:58 IST
Insider
A Taliban fighter stands guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. Rahmat Gul/Associated Press
  • The Taliban are on the hunt for locals who worked with NATO or the former Afghan regime, per an intelligence report for the UN.
  • They will track down their targets' families if they are unsuccessful in their search, said the report.
  • Those who played key roles in the military, police, and investigative units are especially in danger, it added.
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The Taliban have been tracking down Afghans who worked with the previous government, the US, or the rest of NATO, according to a confidential report to the United Nations from a Norwegian intelligence service and seen by Insider.

Its findings indicate a contrast to the Taliban's promises earlier this week that they will grant amnesty to those who collaborated with its old enemies. The four-page report, dated Wednesday, was compiled by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which provides intelligence to the UN.

It said the hardline Islamist group is now keeping priority lists of Afghans to be arrested and is collecting intelligence on their phone numbers and families.

"Taliban are intensifying the hunt-down of all individuals and collaborators with the former regime, and if unsuccessful, target and arrest the families and punish them according to their own interpretation of Sharia law. Particularly at risk are individuals in central positions in military, police, and investigative units," it read.

The report includes a written letter from the Taliban that summoned an Afghan national who worked in counterterrorism for the previous Afghan government. The man was approached at his apartment on Tuesday by a group of men believed to be the Taliban, who said they wanted to detain him for questioning, per the report.

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"You were working closely with the Americans and British forces to target the Mujahideen," reads the letter in Pashto. "We were also informed that you had traveled to the United Kingdom... which indicates you have had excellent relations with the American and British."

The letter asked the recipient to report to a commission in Kabul and provide information on his relationship with the US and UK. If he did not, his family would be arrested and treated according to the Sharia law, it added. His name was redacted from the report.

RHIPTO knows of more cases and summons letters like these, Christian Nellemann, the group's executive director, told Insider in an email.

"The Taliban didn't turn nice last week with their statement, as the assassinations, arrests and also executions and targeting of families has shown in the last month," wrote Nellemann.

Thousands have tried to flee Kabul after it fell to the Taliban on Sunday, including drivers, security personnel, and translators who used to work with foreign organizations. Footage has emerged online of people clinging to military planes as they take off from Kabul airport runways, as well as what appeared to be people falling from jets in the sky.

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A 19-year-old soccer star was among those who died - he was killed in the landing gear of a US military plane, said one report.

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