Taliban ministry to probe reports of torture, killing of Panjshir civilians

Kabul: The Taliban caretaker government's Ministry of Interior on Friday announced that it would investigate the alleged torture and killings of civilians in Panjshir province.

In a statement issued on Friday, Ministry spokesperson Qari Saeed Khosty said such behaviour is not allowed and that 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," TOLO News reported.

The announcement came after a number of Panjshir residents reported said some Taliban members tortured civilians and demanded weapons.

The TOLO News reported quoting Imam Reza, a resident of the province, as saying that five days ago Taliban members 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.

Meanwhile in a video posted on social media, a man who claimed to be the head of the intelligence department of the Islamic Emirate in Panjshir can be heard saying that Taliban members have tortured and even killed a number of people in the province.

The Ministry is yet to confirm the identity of the man, adding that it would probe the video.

After seizing control of the country on August 15, the militant group had promised there would be no revenge attacks, but in Panjshir province — the last pocket of Afghan resistance — there are reports of civilians being shot as they try to escape.

In new social media footage, forces of the Resistance Front group, who used to exercise facto control over Panjshir before its fall, said they were still present in parts of the province.