Taliban stage massive security sweep across Kabul

AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban are conducting a massive security sweep of Kabul and other Afghan cities, their spokesman said Sunday, going house-to-house in search of weapons and criminals blamed for a recent spate of robberies and kidnappings.

The operation, which started Friday, has alarmed many who fear being targeted because of their association with the previous Western-backed regime or the U.S.-led foreign forces who finally withdrew on August 31.

Some irate residents posted videos on social media showing homes they said had been trashed during Taliban searches, but several people told AFP their encounters had been polite and cursory.

The Taliban called the sweep a “clearing operation”.

“We are trying to take steps against those kidnappers, thieves and looters who have weapons in their hands and threaten the lives of the people,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference.

Mujahid said light and heavy weapons, explosives, radio equipment and drones had been seized, as well as vehicles belonging to the military or Government.

Six people suspected of being members of the Islamic State group had been detained, he said, along with nine kidnappers and 53 “professional thieves”.

Meanwhile,Reena Ghelani, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Director in the Operations and Advocacy Division — who led a UN delegation that recently visited Kabul to assess the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan — said that at least four million Afghan children are expected to be affected with malnutrition, of whom 137,000 will lose their life in 2022.

– IANS, JAPAN TODAY