Taliban ‘Carrying Out Door-to-Door Manhunt’: Intelligence Group

Taliban terrorists patrol in a neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 18, 2021. Rahmat Gul/AP Photo

The Taliban terrorist group is carrying out a highly organized door-to-door manhunt for people on their wanted list, according to the head of a nonprofit providing intelligence to the United Nations.

“They have lists of individuals and even within the very first hours of moving into Kabul they began a search of former government employees—especially in intelligence services and the special forces units,” Christian Nellemann, head of the Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses, told the BBC Thursday.

The RHIPTO Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses is a nonprofit that undertakes analytical, assessment, training, and other forms of support for the U.N.

Nellemann said the Taliban have a “more advanced intelligence system” when moving into all major Afghan cities, including the capital of Kabul.

That not only could lead to mass executions, but also a mass reveal of the intelligence networks that the West has provided Afghanistan.

“So this could undermine severely a number of our Western intelligence services,” Nellemann added.

In a statement released Thursday, the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting also said it’s “deeply concerned by reports of violent reprisals in parts of Afghanistan.”

The alleged move is contrary to recent statements of the Taliban. The group announced “complete amnesty” to Afghans on Tuesday.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with full dignity and honesty has announced a complete amnesty for all Afghanistan, especially those who were with the opposition or supported the occupiers for years and recently,” Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, stated on Afghan state television.

Later that day at the Taliban’s first official press conference, spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid reassured the safety of Afghans—including those who worked with the United States and allied forces.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid (L) gestures as he speaks during the first press conference in Kabul on Aug. 17, 2021 following the Taliban stunning takeover of Afghanistan. Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images

“We will pardon all those who became masters against jihad, and this special pardon is because we do not want war again, and to let war be repeated and the elements of the war remain,” Mujahid said.

“We are assuring the safety of all those who have worked with the United States and allied forces, whether as interpreters or any other field that they worked with them,” Mujahid added.

In Thursday’s press briefing, State Department spokesman Ned Price acknowledged he had seen a similar report.

“We know that at least one NGO—I’ve seen a report that at least one NGO has put together with this. I’m just not in a position to confirm those details,” Price said. “Every time we see a detail like this, we take it extraordinarily seriously and we do everything we can to follow up on it.”

Most Afghan fighters would likely not be able to get special immigrant visas, but “there are other pathways to safety,” Price added, without providing details.

About 2,000 people were flown out of the U.S.-held airport in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, U.S. military officials told reporters on Thursday in Washington.

Among them, there are nearly 300 Americans. Most of the non-American passengers are Afghans who have been granted special immigrant visas and are en route to military bases in the United States, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.