Qudratullah Abu Hamza, the Taliban governor in Balkh province, has asked people not to give shelter to "terrorists". In a meeting with the residents of districts 10 and 11 of Mazar-e-Sharif city, Abu Hamza warned of retaliation and suppression by the Taliban.
He said that if anyone gives shelter to terrorists, the owner and the district chief will be arrested and the house will be seized by the Taliban.
Abu Hamza emphasised that the officials of this group are working day and night to ensure security in Mazar-e-Sharif city.
He said that the Taliban will suppress those who cause problems for the people.
It is not clear who the Taliban term as terrorists, but in the past year, the Taliban had announced that they had killed a number of ISIS fighters who had taken shelter inside residential properties.
The Taliban has expressed concern about armed groups taking shelter in residential places at a time when the international community expressed fear of the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a terrorist haven under the Taliban rule.
Recently, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in a US airstrike in Shirpur area of Kabul, near the office of the Taliban Prime Minister.
According to reports, the al-Qaeda leader was staying in the guest house of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister.
