Kabul plans to purge civil servants

Dawn
KABUL, Dec 14: Afghanistan's hardline Taliban plan to purge civil servants who received merit awards, did military training or studied in a socialist country during the former 14-year communist regime, official sources said on Tuesday.

The sources, requesting anonymity, added that the Taliban had ordered all government ministries and universities to prepare files on staff with alleged links to the former communist government.

Civil servants said the Taliban had asked for lists of anyone who received merit awards under the communist regime, who did military service or was educated in a socialist country.

They said special teams were currently working in various ministries and departments to complete the list of "unfavourable persons."

At Kabul University, about 85 people have been listed, most of them well-trained and experienced lecturers, one source said.

He said the purge would take place after getting lists from the universities of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar, Herat and Jalalabad.

Although no official word was yet available on the purpose of the purge, it appears the Taliban are keen to dismiss anyone trained by the communist regime which ruled Afghanistan from 1978 till 1992.

In 1996, when the Taliban took Kabul, they announced a general amnesty which covered communist functionaries too. But a year later they undertook a massive purge, getting rid of hundreds of civil servants.

Almost all pilots of the Taliban's ageing air force have been trained in socialist countries and some ex-communist military officers are serving in the ranks of the Taliban army. -AFP