Taliban expels families of pro-govt militia, employees from Faryab

KABUL (AFGHNISTAN TIMES): Taliban militants have expelled tens of families of government servants and those fighting with the insurgents in the framework of the government-funded public uprising forces from their houses and villages in the northern province of Faryab, provincial officials said Friday.

The militants have also confirmed they had forced 30 families who were annoying the relatives of the militants to leave their houses in the areas under their control.

But Mullah Faizullah, governor of the Gorziwan district where the displacement took place, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the militants had displaced more than 200 families whose relatives were serving in the security forces and public uprising, under the pretext of being working for government. He added that the displaced families lack any means to keep themselves warm while living in the cold winter weather.

According to Fazullah, 70 families were displaced from Dara-e-Zang, 60 from Ghalbian, 50 from Youkhan, 15 from YakhalSoz, 11 from Dehmardan and several more from other villages. He said Maulavi Hamidullah Danesh, the shadow district governor for Gorziwan, commanded his fighters to expel the families.

The militants did not allow children and women to take warm clothes and even loaves of bread while leaving their houses, according to reports.

The Taliban shadow governor for the district said some people in the displaced families were carrying weapons and were annoying Taliban’s relatives extorting and beating them up. Thus, they expelled them to prevent more annoying of insurgents’ relatives.

“They are not more than 20 or 30 families, but the government was enlarging the number,” he said.

Local officials say that government has control on the areas up to 300 meter from district governor’s office, and all other parts of the district were under Taliban control.