NRF Seeks Prisoner Swap With Taliban After Downing Their Helicopter
The National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, announced that they are ready to provide ground for Taliban captives to return to their families through a prisoner swap with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The NRF asked the Taliban not to start any military operation in areas controlled by them as it will endanger the life of the Taliban prisoners. The NRF assured the global community through their statement that the Taliban prisoners have been transferred to safe places and have been taken care of according to Islamic obligations and Geneva’s convention about war prisoners.
The NRF added that even though they gave immunity to two other Taliban members, however, they took up arms and lost their lives as the result of the ensuing clash. The Taliban have not yet commented on the issue.
On Thursday, June 16, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan announced that its forces have shot down a Taliban helicopter in Dara Arezo of Panjshir province, and taken into custody five individuals including two pilots, two flying engineers and one Taliban commander. Taliban had maintained that the said helicopter made an emergency landing in Dara Arezo of Panjshir province due to technical problems.
The NRF has been pushing for the prisoner swap as reports of the arrest and torture of civilians accused of being NRF members had been published by international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The rights watchdogs have expressed deep concerns over the torture and arbitrary arrests of civilians in Panjshir province and the Andarab district of Baghlan province. HRW in a statement had said that the Taliban tortured civilians and in some cases, the detainees lost their lives due to the torture.
