Taliban deny burning opponents homes in Sangcharak

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Taliban have denied opponents claim about committing atrocities and tyrannies during the capture of two strategic districts of Sangcharak and Gosbandi.

"It has never been the policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to torture and harass the people. The militia preferred to flee and how it could be possible for the opponents to know that the people of the area have either been arrested or tortured", senior Talibans spokesman Mulla Abdul Hai Mutmaen told the BBC in an interview.

He said that the forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan launched operation against the two strategic districts last week as the remnants of the militiamen were still present there.

He said that resistance was also not on the scale being claimed by the opponents. He said that the militiamen have now retreated to Balkhad district located along Bamyan and Saripul provinces.

Earlier, a spokesman of Wahdat-e-Islami, Mohammad Sadiq said that Taliban have launched ground and air attacks against a number of areas in Sangcharak. He said that first the fighting broke out in Sangcharak district as a result, Gosbandi area fell to the Taliban and more than 20,000 people of the area have now left for mountainous areas and passes.

Mohammad Sadiq said that when the people left their homes, Taliban set their houses on fire. He appealed to world community for providing shelter and other aid to these people.