Islamabad, AP. The Taliban has detained 18 employees, including a foreign national, of a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Afghanistan. In such a situation, Afghan NGOs are working with the United Nations for their early release.
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Where are the detained NGO workers?
According to the International Assistance Mission, the Taliban detained 18 NGO workers from their office in central Ghor province on two separate occasions this month and took them to the capital, Kabul.
According to local media, an American citizen is also among the 18 detained NGO workers. However, the NGO is still not aware of why their workers were detained.
Afghan officials did not comment
The NGO has written to the Ministry of Economy about this worrying development. The NGO said that we are working with the United Nations and ACBAR to understand the seriousness of the situation and to seek the early release of our 18 personnel. At the same time, Afghan officials did not comment on the issue of the 18 detained employees.
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It should be noted that the Taliban had started cracking down on NGOs to capture power in Afghanistan two years ago. They did not allow Afghan girls to study beyond the sixth grade. Also, strict restrictions were imposed to stop them from working with NGOs.
Posted By Anurag Gupta
This post originally appeared on www.jagran.com