“It’s very much underground,” said one former legislator, who was in hiding elsewhere when the Taliban visited his home in the middle of the night. “I feel threatened and my family is in shock.”The Taliban swept into towns and districts, often without a shot fired, making diplomatic assurances to their opponents and the public. Nor is it clear what level of the Taliban leadership authorized detentions or executions. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency has long supported the Taliban in their violent opposition to the Kabul government. All but the youngest remember the Taliban’s authoritarian regime of the 1990s, with its draconian punishments, hangings and public executions.

Source: International New York Times August 29, 2021 09:00 UTC