The Taliban's mask slips further after militants kill journalist's relative

[Spartan]

Afghans are witnessing early glimpses of the true nature of Taliban rule, after the brutal repression of several protests and the murder of a journalist's relative betrayed the militant group's promises to lead an "inclusive" and restrained regime.

The German news organization Deutsche Welle (DW) said in an article on Thursday that Taliban fighters had been searching for one of their journalists in Afghanistan, confirming that a relative of the journalist was shot dead by the Taliban on Wednesday and one other person was seriously injured.

Other relatives were able to escape at the last minute and are on the run, the DW article said.

"The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves," DW Director General Peter Limbourg said in the article.

"It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organized searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!" Limburg added.

The news comes after a threat assessment, prepared for the United Nations by a Norwegian organization, warned the "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," the report went on to say.

 

 

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul on Thursday.

CNN has obtained a copy of the report, dated August 18 and written by the Norwegian Center for Global Analyses. It includes a document purportedly written by the Taliban's Military Commission to a senior security official in the former government who -- it said -- had "excellent relations with the Americans and the British."

The document, dated August 16, said he must report to the Commission and failure to do so would mean that "your family members will be arrested instead, and you are responsible for this."

CNN has been unable to establish the extent of the Taliban's search for members of the security services and others associated with the former government, nor how many may have been arrested.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Taliban published a series of photographs of their fighters at an Independence Day parade brandishing US assault weapons.

The parade took place in the city of Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, on Thursday. The photographs show a Taliban unit carrying M4 carbines, which were supplied by the US to Afghan forces in recent years.

A similar parade was held in Kandahar in the south.

In seizing military bases across Afghanistan, the Taliban captured huge stocks of weapons and vehicles, including modern mine-resistant vehicles (MRAPs) and Humvees. Fighters have also been seen patrolling with US M16 rifles in recent days.

The last flights from Kabul inch closer

Taliban spokespeople have spent much of the past week stressing that the group will run a more tolerant regime than the one that repressed millions when last in power until it was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.

The spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, told CNN on Monday the group is committed to an "inclusive Islamic government," and repeated assurances that those involved with the Afghan state over the past two decades would be given amnesty.

But a pattern of repression has already emerged in towns and cities around Afghanistan. On Thursday, the country's independence day, Taliban patrols circled Kabul, blasting sirens and following marches that displayed the Afghan national flag.

And in the provinces, which sit mostly away from the glare of international media, militants have fired guns and beaten protesters who removed the Taliban's flag from town sThe German news organization Deutsche Welle (DW) said in an article on Thursday that Taliban fighters had been searching for one of their journalists in Afghanistan, confirming that a relative of the journalist was shot dead by the Taliban on Wednesday and one other person was seriously injured.

Other relatives were able to escape at the last minute and are on the run, the DW article said.

"The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves," DW Director General Peter Limbourg said in the article.

"It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organized searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!" Limburg added.

The news comes after a threat assessment, prepared for the United Nations by a Norwegian organization, warned the "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," the report went on to say.

 

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul on Thursday.

 

CNN has obtained a copy of the report, dated August 18 and written by the Norwegian Center for Global Analyses. It includes a document purportedly written by the Taliban's Military Commission to a senior security official in the former government who -- it said -- had "excellent relations with the Americans and the British."

The document, dated August 16, said he must report to the Commission and failure to do so would mean that "your family members will be arrested instead, and you are responsible for this."

CNN has been unable to establish the extent of the Taliban's search for members of the security services and others associated with the former government, nor how many may have been arrested.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Taliban published a series of photographs of their fighters at an Independence Day parade brandishing US assault weapons.

The parade took place in the city of Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, on Thursday. The photographs show a Taliban unit carrying M4 carbines, which were supplied by the US to Afghan forces in recent years.

A similar parade was held in Kandahar in the south.

In seizing military bases across Afghanistan, the Taliban captured huge stocks of weapons and vehicles, including modern mine-resistant vehicles (MRAPs) and Humvees. Fighters have also been seen patrolling with US M16 rifles in recent days.

[grogu]

[tacobell fan]

7 hours ago, Spartan said:

Fighters have also been seen patrolling with US M16 rifles in recent days.

ammunition enallu untadhi le bokka

[Ryzen_renoir]

1 minute ago, tacobell fan said:

ammunition enallu untadhi le bokka

They can always go back to using the AK 47's . 

This is more of a intimidation / PR thing

[tacobell fan]

1 minute ago, Ryzen_renoir said:

They can always go back to using the AK 47's . 

This is more of a intimidation / PR thing

daniki kuda malli US ee kada indirect supplier 

[Ryzen_renoir]

18 minutes ago, tacobell fan said:

daniki kuda malli US ee kada indirect supplier 

Poppy trade