Taliban reaches out to Afghan Imams, asks them to urge citizens to not leave country

The Taliban has urged imams to ask Afghan citizens to not leave the country during Friday's sermon. After the collapse of a democratically elected government and a forced takeover by the terror group, people in the war-torn country have little choice but to flee. To avoid this from happening, the Taliban sent official guidelines to imams and preachers across Afghanistan and sought their help to ensure the country's citizens stay for their first Friday sermon since taking over the southcentral Asian country.

After the terror outfit entered the Afghan Presidential Palace and announced the takeover of the capital, Kabul, on 15 August, people in Afghanistan flocked the city's airport in large numbers, hoping to escape the country and the Taliban's reign. Countries from all across the world have been evacuating their ex-pats from Afghanistan.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, on Wednesday, announced an initiative to bring back citizens to the state with the help of the Central government. The Indian government had previously evacuated over 200 citizens, including diplomatic staff. 

The US State Department said on Thursday that the country has already airlifted more than 7,000 evacuees since Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Talibani leaders are discussing future government plans in Afghanistan and are in touch with intra-Afghan parties.

Taliban comes back with a reminder of its atrocities 

After the collapse of Afghanistan's democratically elected government and the subsequent disappearance of former president Ashraf Ghani, the country's citizens remain concerned and afraid, and for good reason.

Over the years, the Taliban has been responsible for atrocities ranging from clashes with the army to torturing and killing civilians and abducting women. Afghanistan residents fear that the Taliban might resort to door-to-door checking to loot people of their wealth and daughters as they did in the 90s.

Over the past years, as things were stable in the country, many women had taken charge of influential roles within the Afghanistan government. Not only in politics but women of the country were moving forward to find their place in society. Even in sports, women were playing professionally on grounds used historically for stoning and torturing them. Young women from across the country have been advised to remove their social media presence and hide till a solution is found to the ongoing crisis. 

(With inputs from ANI)