Taliban going door-to-door to find 'targets' says UN report

A document from the United Nations has warned that the Taliban are making door-to-door searches across Afghanistan, looking for people who worked for NATO forces or the government in the country.

Although the militant group claimed they will seek no “revenge” on people they consider opponents during a press conference earlier this week, these claims have been outright rejected by many.

A confidential document by RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, a group that provides intelligence to the UN, reported that the Taliban were now targeting “collaborators”.

Christian Nellemann, who led the group behind the report, has told the BBC: “There are a high number of individuals that are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear.

“It is in writing that, unless they give themselves in, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of those individuals.”

He warned that anyone on the Taliban's blacklist was in severe danger, and that there could be mass executions.

Meanwhile, Dominic Raab faces mounting pressure to resign after it emerged a phone call requested by his officials to help interpreters flee Afghanistan was not made.

The Foreign Secretary was reportedly “unavailable” when officials in his department suggested he “urgently” call Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar on August 13 – two days before the Taliban marched on Kabul – to arrange help for those who supported British troops.

It was initially reported the Afghan Foreign Ministry refused to arrange a call with a junior minister, pushing it back to the next day.

But a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson later said: “Given the rapidly changing situation, it was not possible to arrange a call before the Afghan government collapsed.”