Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, has confirmed that a number of members of the group have secretly and arbitrarily targeted and killed officials and employees of the former government in revenge.
Haqqani made these remarks during a meeting with local Taliban officials and families of slain members of the group in Kapisa province.
While acknowledging the revengeful actions of some Taliban forces, he said: “Those who have committed such acts must be held accountable before God.”
This is the first time that a senior Taliban official has publicly admitted to the secret killing of former soldiers by members of the group.
Previously, numerous reports of the detention, torture and murder of soldiers and employees of the former government by the Taliban after the group took control of the country had been published.
However, the Taliban have always denied or remained silent about the reports of the killing of former soldiers, citing their leader’s general amnesty decree.
