After taking over Afghanistan, the members of Taliban are going house-to-house searching for people who helped US and NATO forces over the years, reported AFP.
According to news agency AFP, as per a confidential document by the UN's threat assessment consultants, the Taliban have been conducting "targeted door-to-door visits" of people who worked with US and NATO forces. They are also screening people on the way to Kabul airport.
"They are targeting the families of those who refuse to give themselves up, and prosecuting and punishing their families 'according to Sharia law'. We expect both individuals previously working with NATO/US forces and their allies, alongside with their family members to be exposed to torture and executions," Christian Nellemann, the group's executive director, told AFP.
Photo Credit: AFP
India has four Indian consulates located in Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad which were closed after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.
Amidst the critical situation in Afghanistan, the Indian Embassy personnel were evacuated by an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft on Tuesday, bringing back 120 Indians, including ITBP personnel from the Kabul airport.
The evacuation of remaining Indian workerswere also discussed in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) wherein the Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed to take all necessary steps to bring them back.
Meanwhile, a total of 7,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the start of evacuation operations on August 14 and over 5,200 US troops are in Kabul, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Cumulatively, the number of people moved out of Afghanistan is somewhere near 12,000.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Sunday. Their sudden victory, which comes as the US withdraws from the country following a 20-year-war, has sparked chaos at Kabul's airport, from where America and allied nations are trying to safely evacuate thousands of citizens and allies.
Photo Credit: AFP
"The US military footprint and Kabul now has more than 5,200 total troops on the ground. Kabul airport remains secure and open for flight operations. There are now multiple gates that have access for entry into the airfield, which will help expedite processing in a safe and orderly manner," said Major General Hank Taylor, Commanding General of the Army Operational Test Command.
Major General Taylor, who has been given the responsibility to airlift US citizens from Afghanistan amid the Taliban crisis, said in the past 24 hours, 13 C-17s arrived with additional troops and equipment, and 12 C-17 military planes departed.
These flights, containing more than 2,000 passengers, left Kabul and arrived at designated safe havens and staging areas in the CENTCOM area of operation, he said.
Photo Credit: AFP
"Since the start of evacuation operations on August 14, we have airlifted approximately 7,000 total evacuees. This increase is reflective of both a ramp up of aircraft and airlift capability, faster processing of evacuees, and greater information and fidelity in reporting," Taylor told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. The US, he said, is ready to increase throughput and have scheduled aircraft departures accordingly.
(With inputs from AFP and PTI)
