The Taliban, who took control of Afghanistan earlier this week, rummaged through the Indian consulates in Afghanistan on Wednesday, went through documents and took away parked cars, reports ndtv.com quoting government sources.
As the militant fighters took province after province, starting August 6, they entered Indian consulates in Kandahar and Herat and “searched closets” in Kandahar for papers and took away vehicles parked at both the consulates, the sources added. The Taliban completed their takeover of the country on August 15, seizing Kabul in an almost bloodless operation.
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India, till last week, operated four consulates in the country, apart from the embassy in Kabul. The consulates were Kandahar and Herat, India also had a consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, which was shut down and staff and other Indian citizens evacuated days before the Taliban took control of the province.
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India also flew back its ambassador, embassy staff, ITBP personnel and other Indian citizens this week in two Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft, soon after Kabul plunged into chaos and thousands of Afghans stormed the airport and scrambled to get into planes flying out of the country. More than 10 people died in the melee with at least three falling to death from the plane they had clung on to.
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Meanwhile, an intelligence document for the UN has revealed that the Taliban are going house-to-house searching for people who worked with the US and NATO forces, according to news agency AFP.
The UN report comes days after the Taliban said that there would be no revenge, offered general amnesty and said that “everyone was forgiven”. While the Taliban claim that they have significantly changed their stance since they were in power the last time from 1996 to 2001 and have pledged to grant rights to women and allow freedom of press, reports like these have triggered fear among Afghans that their regime may not be any different from the one in the 90s.