Former Afghanistan Vice President (VP) Amrullah Saleh on Saturday took to Twitter and claimed that the Taliban had killed thirteen people in Nangarhar province in order to silence music at a wedding party.
"Taliban militiamen have massacred 13 persons to silence music in a wedding party in Nengarhar. We can't express our rage only by condemnation. For 25 years Pak trained them to kill Afg culture & replace it with ISI tailored fanaticism to control our soil. It is now in works. (sic)," he tweeted.
"This regime won't last but unfortuatnely until the moment of its demise the Afghans will continue paying a price again," he added.
According to local reports, the Taliban resorted to firing upon a mere incident of argument between the guests in the wedding party and the forces.
The argument reportedly broke out when the Taliban forces stormed into a wedding party to stop the music from being played. The Taliban forces opened fire at the guests eventually, according to the news channel.
Such incidents are on the rise under the hardline rule of the Taliban since the organisation took over the country on August 15 overthrowing the elected government.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier said that music is forbidden in Islam.
Pak quietly allows Taliban-appointed 'diplomats' to take charge of Afghan missions
Pakistan has quietly allowed the Taliban-appointed "diplomats" to take charge of the Afghan embassy and consulates in the country, a media report said on Saturday.
Although Pakistan does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Kabul, it still issued visas to the appointed "diplomats".
Sardar Muhammad Shokaib has started working as the first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, while Hafiz Mohibullah, Mullah Ghulam Rasool and Mullah Muhammad Abbas have been assigned to the Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi consulates of Afghanistan, the Dawn reported.
Shokaib would effectively be the Afghan charge d'affaires in Islamabad.
The Afghan embassy in Islamabad has been without an ambassador since July when the last envoy under the previous regime, Najibullah Alikhil, left because of controversy due to alleged abduction of his daughter Silsila Alikhil.
No details about Shokaib were shared but according to a report by Voice of America, he is an ethnic Pashtun from Zabul province who served in the Information and Cultural Department in southern Kandahar and was associated with a Taliban magazine.
He reportedly once worked as the Taliban spokesman under the name of Qari Yousaf Ahmadi and was arrested in Pakistan and later lived in Peshawar for several years.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar tried to play down the new appointments by saying that it was an "administrative matter".
"With regard to appointment of new staff in the Afghan embassy, this is an administrative matter and is meant to enable the embassy to perform its functions, primarily the consular functions as you are aware there are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
