A confidential United Nations document warns the Taliban is intensifying efforts to hunt down Afghans who worked with American and NATO forces over the past two decades, and that the militants have threatened to kill or arrest their family members if the people being sought cannot be found.
The document, produced by a Norwegian threat analysis firm, was circulated among U.N. officials Wednesday and sharply contrasts a publicity blitz by Taliban leaders. They have tried to lure the international community into believing they will give “amnesty” to Afghans who worked against the hardline Islamist group.
The Taliban are going house-to-house searching for opponents and their families, according to an intelligence document for the UN that deepened fears Friday Afghanistan’s new rulers were reneging on pledges of tolerance.
After routing government forces and taking over Kabul on Sunday to end two decades of war, the hardline Islamist movement’s leaders have repeatedly vowed a complete amnesty as part of a well-crafted PR blitz.
Women have also been assured their rights will be respected, and that the Taliban will be “positively different” from their brutal 1996-2001 rule.
But with thousands of people still trying to flee the capital aboard evacuation flights, the report for the United Nations confirmed the fears of many.
“They are targeting the families of those who refuse to give themselves up, and prosecuting and punishing their families ‘according to Sharia law’,” Christian Nellemann, the group’s executive director, told AFP.
“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.
“This will further jeopardize western intelligence services, their networks, methods and ability to counter both the Taliban, ISIS and other terrorist threats ahead,” he added.
The report says the militants are “rapidly recruiting” new informers to collaborate with the Taliban regime and are expanding their lists of targets by contacting mosques and money brokers.
The Taliban have launched a public relations blitz since sweeping back into power on Sunday, including promising a full amnesty for all who worked with the elected Afghan government.
But Afghans and observers have not forgotten the Taliban’s ultra-conservative Islamic regime of 1996-2001 when brutal punishments, such as stoning to death for adultery, were imposed.
