Threatened Afghans hopeful of fleeing after Taliban resumes passport services
FirstpostHundreds flocked to the department to apply for travel documents in a test of the new Afghan government’s commitment to the international community to allow eligible people to leave Kabul: The reopening of the passport office in Kabul on Wednesday gave some Afghans who feel threatened under Taliban rule fresh hope they may soon be able to escape the country. “I’m trying to run away,” said Mohammad Hanif, who said he was an interpreter for the United States special forces in the south of the country from 2009 to 2013. I couldn’t make it.” Women back to work Since then, Hanif told AFP he is being hunted in Helmand province by the Taliban who accuse him of stealing weapons and a vehicle from the government. The head of the passport department, Alam Gul Haqqani, said passport office staff were being paid and separate offices had been created for women and men in accordance with the Taliban’s view of Islamic law.