Afghanistan: Taliban ‘search homes’ for those who worked for foreign forces, ‘terrified’ translator told Sky News | world News

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A “terrified” translator told Sky News that the Taliban were searching homes for people who worked for foreign forces or the former Afghan government.

The man, who has worked for the UK government but remains in Kabul, said the group is moving “from house to house” as they look for people such as translators and interpreters or women.

He said many people, like him, are trying to “take care of themselves as much as possible” and try to stay indoors.

Photo: Taliban fighters show off their military equipment. Pic: EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Speaking of the Taliban’s complete control of Kabul, the translator said, “They were searching houses. They were targeting people and their positions.”

“They are looking from house to house,” he continued, adding that the group is looking “for those who work either as translators and interpreters” or other people such as women who worked in the Afghan government before it fell.

The translator also expressed concerns that the Taliban were tracking the phones after they took control of the cellular network.

“I can’t find peace in my mind,” he said. “I’m terrified. I was horrified. I just feel like I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next minute or who’s going to hurt you because there are a lot of people working as spies for the Taliban, and you can’t even trust anyone.”

Other recent developments in the country include:

• The Taliban focused on the continuation of the work of banks, hospitals and government agencies after the American withdrawal.

• Thousands of people flock to the borders of the landlocked country after the end of the air bridge.

• The Taliban displayed captured military equipment during a parade in Kandahar.

• Pictures showed long lines of people in Kabul outside banks trying to withdraw their savings.

Witnesses reported violence by the Taliban, and one of them said she saw fighters beating women with sticks outside a bank in Kabul.

• The Pakistani Foreign Minister said he expects the country to have a new “consensual government” within days.

• The Taliban reported that they surrounded the only remaining province resisting their rule in Panjshir province and called on local militias and resistance fighters to negotiate a settlement.

• The United Nations warned that food stocks in the country may run out this month.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the United States, saying that it achieved “zero” during its 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.

• The European Union said that the collapse of the Afghan government and the evacuation highlighted the bloc’s need for a military force to respond quickly.

Photo: The Taliban regained control of the country. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Image: Taliban supporters gather to hear from Haji Muhammad Yusuf, the Taliban governor in Kandahar. Pic: EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

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Footage on Wednesday showed Taliban fighters sitting atop pickup trucks waving the group’s black and white flag and driving a convoy of armored vehicles through the streets.

Celebrations erupted across Afghanistan after US forces and their NATO allies withdrew from the country.

Taliban supporters also displayed coffins wrapped in US and NATO flags in Kandahar’s Khost city on Tuesday.

Photo: Taliban forces at a demonstration in Kandahar to celebrate the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Pic: EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

The mock funeral involved carrying coffins covered in French and British flags along the street in a large crowd.

It follows the recent departure of US troops on flights from Kabul airport ahead of a Tuesday deadline set by President Joe Biden before the Taliban took power in mid-August.

Since taking power, the Taliban has yet to name a new government or reveal how it intends to govern.

It is currently focused on keeping essential services such as banks, hospitals and government machinery operational.

But Shah Mahmood Qureshi, foreign minister of neighboring Pakistan, which has close ties to the Taliban, said he expected Afghanistan to have a new “consensual government” within days.

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Destroyed planes and military vehicles abandoned by the United States

Meanwhile, Taliban leaders have called for Afghans to go home, and promised to protect human rights in an apparent attempt to present a more moderate stance than their first government in the 1990s, which imposed radical Islamic law.

But reports of Taliban violence continue, with a woman saying she saw her fighters beat women with sticks outside a bank in the Afghan capital on Tuesday.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this and it really scared me,” said the 22-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This came as long queues formed in front of banks in Kabul on Wednesday as people tried to withdraw their savings.

More than 123,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul by the US-led airlift, but tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans remain in the country.

With Kabul’s airport now inoperative, special efforts to help people leave the country have shifted focus to seeking safe passages across the country’s landlocked borders with Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian countries.

At Torkham, a border crossing with Pakistan just east of the Khyber Pass, a Pakistani official said, “A large number of people are waiting on the Afghan side to open the gate.”

Photo: Afghans in Kabul queue in front of a bank to withdraw their money after the Taliban takeover

Witnesses said thousands also gathered at the Islam Qala site on the border with Iran.

The Taliban also said on Wednesday that they had surrounded the only remaining province resisting their rule.

Several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army units are being held in the mountainous Panjshir region, led by Ahmed Masoud.

The Taliban have called on the resistance fighters to negotiate a settlement.

Photo: The Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan 20 years after they were ousted in a US-led invasion. Pic: EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Ramez Alakbarov, the UN’s local humanitarian coordinator, warned that food stocks in Afghanistan could run out this month, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the new rulers.

He said about a third of the country’s 38 million people were facing “emergency” or “crisis” levels of food insecurity.

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On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the US involvement in Afghanistan, claiming that its military presence in Afghanistan for 20 years has achieved “zero”.

Senior EU officials also said the collapse of the Afghan government, the Taliban’s takeover of the country and the rush to evacuate European citizens and Afghan staff highlighted the bloc’s need for its military power to respond quickly.

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