Ex-district police chief joins Taliban in Badakhshan

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): A former police chief for the Keran wa Menjan district of northeastern Badakhshan province has joined the Taliban militants, local officials said on Wednesday.

A National Directorate of Security (NDS) official, who wished to go unnamed, told Pajhwok Afghan News Col. Ahmad Shah who previously served as the Keran wa Menjan district police chief, had long been in contact with the Taliban.

Shah and his supporters finally joined the insurgent group in Yamgan district on Tuesday, the official said.

Yamgan district has been under control of the Taliban

Badakhshan provincial council head Abdullah Naji confirmed Col. Ahmad Shah had joined the rebels.

He said the former security official was a resident of Yamgan district but he had been living in the Keran wa Menjan district for the past one year.

Shah and his 10 supporters on Tuesday returned to his home in Yamgan and pledged his allegiance to the Taliban, the public representative said.

But provincial deputy police chief Col. Mohammad Nabi Bayan said Shah was jobless and returned to his Yamgan home on Tuesday.

He did not say if Shah has joined the militants but said Shah’s home in Yamgan was in an area where the Taliban were in control.

Yamgan, Keran wa Menjan and Warduj districts are currently under Taliban’s control.

The rebels also hold sway in some areas in Tagab, Shuhada, Arghanj Khwa, Raghistan, Tishkan, Darayim and Jurm districts.

SMEA/mds/ma