Taliban to probe reports of killing of Panjshir civilians

KABUL: The Ministry of Interior on Friday said it will investigate the alleged torture and killings of civilians in Panjshir province. Saeed Khosti, spokesman of the ministry, said such behavior is not allowed. “The Islamic Emirate does not allow anyone to torture anyone after the amnesty it announced. This is the policy of the Islamic Emirate. If any minor incidents happen in some places, the Islamic Emirate will try to investigate it,” Khosti said.

Meanwhile, a number of residents of Panjshir said some force members of the Islamic Emirate torture civilians and demand weapons. Imam Reza, a resident of the province, said five days ago members of the Islamic Emirate forces captured and released him but after hours of torture. “The Taliban took me, beat me, tortured me and asked for weapons. I shouted that I do not have any, but they did not hear,” he said.

A video posted on social media showed a man calling himself the head of the intelligence department of the Islamic Emirate in Panjshir province and saying that members of the Islamic Emirate forces have tortured and even killed a number of people in the province.

“We bring people down from the mountains. Then another person comes and kills them. What response do we have for (our) people? we do not know what to do,” he said in thevideo.

The Ministry of Interior has said it is not known whether the man in the video is the head of the intelligence department in Panjshir or not, adding they will investigate the issue.Meanwhile, the forces belonging to the Resistance Front in new footage released on social media have said they are present in parts of Panjshir province.