They witnessed the former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and the head of the National Reconciliation Council, Abdullah Abdullah, the security apparatus they were assigned to protect by the Taliban and thus “effectively” placed under house arrest, CNN reported this Wednesday.
politicians Last week I met with Taliban representativesIn an attempt to form an “inclusive” government, but by forcing it to be arrested, in practice, the fundamentalist Islamist group is giving a clear signal that it is not interested in negotiating with the former regime.
According to CNN, the Taliban also confiscated the Afghan leaders’ cars and allegedly searched Abdullah’s house, where the two politicians can’t leave now.
Karzai and Abdullah remained in Kabul after the Taliban captured the Afghan capital on August 15. The fall of Kabul displaced several Afghan officials, including then-President Ashraf Ghani, who fled to the Emirates, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, and Fazal Mahmud Fazli, who held an important position in Ghani’s government.
Amrullah Saleh, who was a rich vice president and is currently in Panjshir Valley, where the outpost of Taliban resistance was created. Led by Ahmed Massoud, son of Ahmed Shah Massoud’s legendary “Lion of Panjshir,” he declared himself interim president under Afghanistan’s constitution.
At last week’s meeting, members of the National Reconciliation Council and the Taliban exchanged “views on citizen security in Kabul and across Afghanistan, unity and cooperation, for the country’s future.” Abdullah said at the time.
The Chairman of the National Reconciliation Council noted that “the collective security of their lives and property” should be a priority issue for the future unity government.
However, restrictions on the freedoms of Karzai and Abdullah were denied by one of the leaders of the Islamic party. Speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency, Habib Rahman Hekmatyar said this was not true, acknowledging only that the situation was due to “some difficulties in movement, which is normal due to the big changes we face daily.”
Hekmatyar also said that he and his father, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who turned political warlord and was also a member of the Reconciliation Council, are safe.
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