Taliban urge ex-Afghan military pilots to stay, serve nation

ISLAMABAD — A apical Taliban authoritative connected Wednesday urged erstwhile Afghan subject pilots to stay successful the country, saying they were protected by a nationalist amnesty and would not look arrest.

The comments by main authorities spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid came amid reports that much than 140 U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and unit members near Tajikistan successful a U.S.-brokered evacuation Tuesday, 3 months aft they sought refuge determination from a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The Associated Press could not instantly corroborate the reports independently.

Afghan aerial unit pilots played a cardinal role, alongside their U.S. counterparts, successful the 20-year warfare against Taliban insurgents that ended with the departure of overseas troops successful precocious August. The airstrikes inflicted dense casualties among the Taliban and repeatedly drove them from positions they had seized successful antithetic parts of the country.

As the U.S.-backed Afghan authorities collapsed and the Taliban took implicit successful mid-August, dozens of Afghan pilots fled to Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

It’s not wide however galore subject pilots and unit members stay successful Afghanistan, what level of hazard they look oregon to what grade Taliban assurances tin beryllium trusted. Over the past 3 months, determination person been immoderate reports of revenge killings by the Taliban, but not connected a large, organized scale.

In a quality league Wednesday, Mujahid was asked astir the astir caller evacuation of pilots and unit members who, according to The New York Times, were flown to the United Arab Emirates. The subject unit had reportedly been successful detention during their enactment successful Tajikistan.

Mujahid said Afghanistan needs pilots and that each is forgiven.

“My connection is, determination is nary information occupation for them (Afghan pilots) successful Afghanistan, determination is nary program of arresting them, nationalist amnesty is announced,” helium said. He said the pilots, whether successful the subject oregon successful civilian aviation, “can beryllium astatine the work of their country.”

“It is regrettable that a fig of pilots person gone, oregon they are going,” helium added.

Separately, a spokesperson for the Taliban quality work told the quality league that the bureau has arrested adjacent to 600 members of the militant Islamic State radical successful transportation with convulsive attacks implicit the past 3 months.

The spokesman, Khalil Hamraz, said that among the detainees are cardinal IS figures, including fiscal supporters.

At slightest 33 IS members person been killed successful gunbattles with Taliban information forces, helium said. He said respective cars rigged with explosives and termination vests were seized earlier they could beryllium detonated.

Islamic State is an force of the Taliban. The 2 groups stock a hard-line mentation of Islam and implicit the years engaged successful immoderate of the aforesaid convulsive tactics, specified arsenic termination bombings. However, the Taliban person focused connected seizing power of Afghanistan, portion IS adheres to planetary jihad.

In caller weeks, IS militants carried retired a bid of bombing and shooting attacks, trying to undercut a assertion by the Taliban that they could reconstruct information successful Afghanistan.