Depy Governor denies father joined Taliban

Monitoring Desk

FARAH: Lieutenant General Abdul Jalil Bakhtoor, the former chief of police in Farah province, has joined the Taliban, officials of Farah provincial council confirmed.

Bakhtoor’s son is still serving as deputy governor in the province.

Footage seen by TOLOnews shows Bakhtoor being warmly welcomed by the Taliban and Bakhtoor requesting that the Taliban provide security to him.

“I request the Taliban leadership to maintain security and guarantee my safety so that the aliens cant pose any harm to me. The Taliban’s governor Haji Sher Aqa and the Taliban’s military chief Haji Abbas supported me a lot in the area,” Bakhtoor said in a video message released on social media.

“Lieutenant General Abdul Jalil Bakhtoor, the former commander of police in the province and the father of Massoud Bakhtoor, the current deputy governor of Farah, has joined the armed opponent. The joining of this man–a lieutenant general–has had a strong impact on the morale of the security forces,” said Dadullah Qane, a member of Farah’s provincial council.

But Bakhtoor’s son Massoud has denied any alliance between his father and the Taliban. He said that his father went to his native town of Balabolok to see his relatives.

“I think it will not be a sin if someone goes to his home. Based on the laws of Afghanistan, everyone is allowed to live in any part of the country. Some political opponents are trying to mix this issue with my post as the deputy governor, but, according to the law and the Sharia (Islamic law), crime is an individual issue and it has nothing to do with others,” said Massoud Bakhtoor, the deputy governor of Farah.

Abdul Jalil Bakhtoor is the father of Farid Bakhtoor, the former head of the Farah provincial council. Farid Bakhtoor was killed in Farah a year ago in a helicopter crash.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter, and they initially refused to hand over his dead body to his family. (TOLOnews)