Topline
The Taliban has killed a relative of a German journalist who was working for Deutsche Welle. This is despite U.N. threat assessments warning that the Taliban are conducting door-to-door searches to find journalists or people who were part of the former Afghan government.
Taliban fighters patrol Kabul, Afghanistan ASSOCIATED PRS
The Key Facts
Two relatives of a journalist for DW were seriously injured and killed by the Taliban during a door to door manhunt, according to German broadcaster Thursday night. The Taliban have raided the homes and likely participated in the kidnapping or shooting of other journalists in Afghanistan. Peter Limbourg, DW's director general, stated that it was clear that Taliban have already begun to conduct organized searches of journalists in Kabul, and other provinces. He urged governments and international organisations to swiftly take action to ensure the safety and security of Afghan journalists. According to confidential U.N. intelligence reports, the RHIPTO Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses has seen news outlets and the Taliban are intensifying their efforts to find Afghan collaborators who may have ties to the Western government or Western forces. Christian Nellemann, the leader of the group, said that the Taliban is targeting families who refuse to surrender and instead, issuing charges against them and punishing them in accordance with Sharia law. Nellemann stated that we expect both former NATO and U.S. troops and allies to be tortured and executed, as well as their families.
Important Background
After the withdrawal of U.S forces, the Taliban quickly retook Kabul, Afghanistan, and most of Afghanistan. This sparked a mass exodus of diplomats, foreign nationals, and some local Afghan staff. In an effort to flee, thousands of Afghans have crowded Kabul's airport since the takeover. The State Department stated that it couldn't guarantee Americans safe access to the airport. Officials from NATO said that at least 12 people have been killed in the area around the airport since Sunday. Taliban, which brutally ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 and severely restricted rights for women and other groups, claimed it would respect women's rights within Islam's limits. There are already reports of rollbacks in womens rights in certain cities.
Continue reading
Who runs the Taliban? These Are Some of The Top Leaders Of The Taliban Group. (Forbes)
Officials say that Taliban is allowing U.N. work to continue so far (Forbes).
Taliban hunt down Afghans in blacklist report (DW).
Afghanistan: Taliban carrying out door-to-door manhunt, report says (BBC)
