The overwhelming majority of Afghans believe that captive Taliban members with a proven record of involvement in violence against the civilian population should be executed, Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Tuesday
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2021) The overwhelming majority of Afghans believe that captive Taliban members with a proven record of involvement in violence against the civilian population should be executed, Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Saleh called for executing the Taliban prisoners whose involvement in terrorist attacks and killings of civilians had been proven. Otherwise, he said, they would take the lack of punishment amid ongoing peace talks as a green light to commit more atrocities in the future.
"Over the past 24 hours, most major domestic news outlets and a number of global news outlets have covered the execution of terrorists. Our working group has been able to analyze and evaluate more than 20,000 comments and views. Eighty-five percent of the population supported the call for the execution of terrorists as a solution and as a lesson to the rest of the assassins," Saleh said in a statement.
According to the official, the remaining 15 percent of people who objected to the execution of Taliban prisoners had "fake identities and masked figures."
"So, I emphasize once again that the terrorists who are actually arrested and there is material and spiritual evidence against them should be executed. I thank the people of Afghanistan and with dignity for their support of this declaration," Saleh said.
The fact that the Taliban reacted to the execution debate by threatening more massacres proves that the radical group has not given up on using insurgency against the civilian population as a political warfare tool, the Afghan vice president said.
According to Saleh, there are "dozens" of Taliban members in the Kabul custody who could now potentially face capital punishment for their direct involvement in the killing of civilians and journalists and indiscriminate bombings.
Tensions have escalated between the Afghan government and the Taliban in recent months despite them being engaged in US-brokered peace talks. Armed clashes take place almost daily in different parts of the country, leaving tens of fighters on both sides killed or taken hostage. The Taliban have denied being involved in violence against the civilian population, something they committed to under a pre-peace talks agreement last February.
