Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Security Personnel Behind Unrest: MPs

Security Personnel  Behind Unrest: MPs

KABUL - Some members of the Wolesi Jirga -- or lower house of parliament -- on Monday blamed Afghan soldiers and policemen for complicity in the current unrest, but the Ministry of Interior vehemently rejected the charge as unfounded.

Qazi Abdul Rahim, a public representative from western Badghis province, told the house that a number of local policemen had joined Taliban's ranks in Bala Murghab district. Afghan soldiers picked up residents and handed them over to the insurgents, he claimed.

"The security situation has worsened to the extent that army vehicles are used to torture civilians," the lawmaker said, asking the authorities concerned to take effective measures to address the issue.
Another legislator from southern Ghazni province also believed security conditions were deteriorating, with police officials allegedly torturing the people in some parts of the country.

Ali Akbar Qasimi, concerned at increasing arson attacks on fuel tankers on the Ghazni-Kabul highway, alleged that police disembarked people from their vehicles and extorted bribes from them.

As a result, he added, the road had become insecure and many travelers avoided plying it. "We have shared the issue with top security officials, but they themselves are part of the problem," the parliamentarian remarked.

Yet another MP, Mohammad Ibrahim Qasimi, also accused police of harassing residents of the Jalrez district of central Maidan Wardak province. Given the ongoing wave of insecurity across the country, he suggested, senior security officials be summoned to the assembly.

But Ministry of Interior spokesman Ghulam Siddique Siddiqui told Pajhwok Afghan News they had no information regarding security forces' involvement either in the unrest or torturing the masses.

Any policemen found involved in such practices would be given deterrent punishment, he promised, denying that members of the local police force had surrendered to the insurgents in Bala Murghab. (Pajhwok)