KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban shot dead the brother of Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, and his driver in northern Panjshir province, Saleh’s nephew said Saturday.
Shuresh Saleh said his uncle Rohullah Azizi was driving a car somewhere on Thursday when Taliban fighters stopped him at a checkpoint. “As we are hearing at the moment, the Taliban shot him and his driver at the checkpoint.” he said.
A message left on Saturday with a Taliban spokesman was not returned immediately.
Shuresh Saleh said it was unclear where his uncle, an anti-Taliban fighter, was going when the Taliban caught him. He said phones were not working in the area.
Amrullah Saleh led troops against the Taliban in Panjshir, the last province to be overrun by Afghanistan’s new rulers.
Videos circulating on social media allegedly show the Taliban opening fire on anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir who had arrested them.
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MORE ABOUT AFGHANISTAN:
– USA gives first public insight into the base in which Afghans are housed
– UN sounds the alarm about the Taliban’s action against dissenting opinions, journalists
– Pentagon chief: Al-Qaeda may be aiming for a comeback in Afghanistan
– Analysis: The Taliban’s tough course is exacerbating the Afghanistan dilemma
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– For more AP coverage, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan
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KABUL, Afghanistan – More than 250 foreigners have left Afghanistan in the past three days, says Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s special envoy and architect of an often-criticized deal with the Taliban.
The agreement signed last year provided for the safe withdrawal of US and NATO troops, but said its critics were heavily weighted in favor of the hard-line Islamist movement.
In a series of tweets, Khalilzad praised both the Middle East state of Qatar, whose national airline operated the flights, and the “Taliban’s cooperation in this important effort” for the recent departure of foreign nationals from Afghanistan.
“We will continue to engage the government of Qatar, the Taliban and others to ensure the safe passage of our citizens, other foreign nationals and Afghan immigrants,” Khalilzad tweeted.
Hundreds of Afghans, including U.S. citizens and green card holders, remain stranded in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, waiting to be evacuated but stopped by Taliban rulers demanding travel documents.
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