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Afghans condemn militants for kidnapping and murdering civilians

By Najibullah

Afghan parliamentarians and members of the civil society organisations gather in Kabul June 1 to condemn the Taliban's brutality against civilians. [Najibullah]

Afghan parliamentarians and members of the civil society organisations gather in Kabul June 1 to condemn the Taliban's brutality against civilians. [Najibullah]

KABUL -- Hundreds of Afghan people, civil activists in Kabul and in provinces across the country condemned recent acts of kidnapping and murdering of Afghan citizens by the Taliban and called for decisive actions against militants.

Taliban militants in Kunduz province kidnapped more than 150 passengers May 3 morning. The militants released most of the kidnapped passengers after murdering 12, while five passengers are still in Taliban's captivity.

Citizens call for 'serious actions' against militants

Following the incident, civil society activists held demonstrations in Kabul, Baghlan, Badakhshan, and Bamiyan early June. They condemned the militants' "barbaric" action.

The activists warned that if such practices continue, people will launch a popular uprising against militants.

"The Taliban has proven its hostility towards the innocent people of Afghanistan by committing such criminal actions," Muhammad Farahmand, one of the participants of the June 2 demonstration in Kabul, told Central Asia Online. "Neither the people nor the government should turn a blind eye to this incident."

The protesters called on government to take serious and decisive actions to free the citizens of this country from the hands of the kidnappers, he said, adding the second step should be to identify the perpetrators of this kidnapping and murder incident and to hand them over to justice.

"This is not the first time when Taliban militants demonstrate their hostility towards the people, in the past they had decapitated many innocent people, including children, in Zabul [province]," Hafizullah, another resident of Kabul, told Central Asia Online. "If the government fails to take serious actions against this group, people will be the ones who revolt and mobilise their forces against this group."

The protesters also issued a resolution, urging the Afghan government to take serious actions to release the kidnapped citizens and to increase the security on the country's highways.

Ghani says militants 'will pay for what they have done'

The Afghan government officials condemned this heinous act of Taliban militants and vowed to take steps against them.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement, calling this incident "a traitorous act" and promised that the perpetrators will be severely punished.

"This is in fact an act of banditry, and this shows that the head of Taliban, who calls himself a religious scholar, is absolutely clueless about the Islamic religion and its basic principles," Ghani said in his statement. "According to our religion, our laws and our culture, bandits deserve the harshest punishments. They will not be able to escape and they will pay for what they have done."

Ghani urged Afghan interior minister to improve highway security. He also asked the officials from the ministry of transportation to co-operate with the interior ministry in addressing the issue.

This is not the first time when militants capturing and murdering civilians in Afghanistan. A number of civilians were captured and brutally murdered by militants in Zabul Province last year. Following the incident, thousands of Afghan citizens marched in Kabul and expressed their hatred and outrage against militants.

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