No selfies, sightseeing, fast cars for Taliban fighters as Defence Minister issues killjoy order

NEW DELHI: Rank-and-file Taliban fighters have been having too much fun in Kabul after seizing the Afghan capital without a fight last month, and the Taliban leadership has now issued a stern order to stop, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thousands of young Taliban men from all over the country, many of whom have never been to a big city before, were deployed in Kabul after the Afghan republic collapsed on August 15.

When not on duty, they sightsee, picnic and visit amusement parks, in a tangle of guns and turbans. Taliban fighters from elsewhere in Afghanistan have also come to gawk at Kabul on tourist trips, WSJ said.

Top urban attractions for relaxing Taliban are Qargha lake, with its swan-shaped pedal boats, the Kabul zoo, and the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, where visitors stroll on a grassy hill overlooking the city.

"I used to infiltrate in, to gather intelligence or to shoot people we were targeting," said Shafiullah Masood, a 24-year-old from the province of Wardak, at the City Park amusement centrE with a gang of Taliban friends, waiting to go on the swinging pirate boat ride. "I'm happy that people are enjoying a peaceful life here now."

The Taliban government's DefenCe Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob, a son of the Islamist group's one-eyed founder Mullah Omar, wasn't amused. In a recent speech, he castigated the fighters for going sightseeing, hanging out in big groups, making aimless trips to markets and to the Kabul airport, or exploring government buildings, the report added. "Stick to the tasks you have been assigned," he said in an audio message released Thursday. "You are damaging our status, which has been created with the blood of our martyrs."

One key instruction was to stop taking so many selfies. Mawlawi Yaqoob was particularly annoyed that the Taliban foot soldiers pull out their phones to take pictures with leaders of the movement whenever they come across them. As these photos end up on social media, they compromise security by giving away locations and activities of the Taliban's senior members, he warned, WSJ said. (IANS)

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