Taliban orders civilians to hand over weapons, ammunition, vehicles, govt property

The Taliban on Saturday ordered Afghans to hand over vehicles, weapons, ammunition and other government property to concerned authorities. Similar orders were issued by the Taliban earlier, directing the civilians to surrender the weapons they had kept for their safety since "the Taliban are now there to ensure your safety.

Kabul (Afghanistan):The Taliban on Saturday ordered Afghans to hand over vehicles, weapons, ammunition and other government property to concerned authorities. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued the directive on Twitter, reported Geo News. "Announcement by the security of the Islamic Emirate: All those in Kabul city who possess vehicles, weapons, ammunition, or other government property, are being informed to handover the said items to the relevant authorities of the Islamic Emirate within a week in order to avoid any legal action against them," wrote Zabihullah.

Similar orders were issued by the Taliban earlier, directing the civilians to surrender the weapons they had kept for their safety since "the Taliban are now there to ensure your safety", reported Geo News. Less than a couple of weeks since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, the state of affairs in the war-ravaged country, is vastly different from what the outfit had pledged with respect to human rights.

On August 15, Kabul had fallen to the Taliban and since then people are in a state of terror with increasing cases of human rights abuses being reported from several parts of the country. In recent weeks, the United Nations has received harrowing and credible reports of the impact on civilians of violations of international humanitarian law, as well as violations and abuses of human rights.

Soon after capturing the capital city, the terrorist group had announced an amnesty for government officials and assured women of basic rights. "However, the past few days have seen women being punished, people from the minority Hazra community being killed and children being subjected to violence," the IFFRAS report said. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), justice for women's rights offenders in Afghanistan remains elusive and the law that aims to provide legal protection to women is becoming ineffectual as the Taliban makes more territorial gains across the country.

There are grave fears for women, for journalists and for the new generation of civil society leaders who have emerged in the past years. Afghanistan's diverse ethnic and religious minorities are also at risk of violence and repression, given previous patterns of serious violations under Taliban rule and reports of killings and targeted attacks in recent months.

ANI