Taliban official describes former Afghan leaders as 'criminals'

Instigating Afghan citizens to cause harm to former leaders of the Islamic Republic, a Taliban official on Wednesday described some top Afghan leaders as "criminals".

The sharp remarks were made by the minister of virtue and vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, referring to the general amnesty, who reassured the public that if the Islamic Emirate granted protection to these leaders the rest of the citizens should not be concerned about their lives, reported TOLONews.

He said that those who made massive property gains in the past years should be held accountable.

"Is there any bigger criminal than (Hamid) Karzai, is there any bigger criminal than(Abdullah) Abdullah? If the Islamic Emirate gives them amnesty, will it not give protection to the others? Is there a bigger criminal than (Abdul Hadi) Muslimyar?" TOLONews quoted Hanafi as saying.

Hanafi said that the reason for naming the officials "traitor" was to remove concerns from the people over the general amnesty. He made the remarks on Wednesday at a gathering in Kunduz province, calling the officials of the former Afghan governments corrupt. He also criticized the former Jihadi leaders for not being committed to the nation, reported the Afghani broadcaster.

"They forgot about Jihad and became the puppets of Americans," he said.

He said that the world's stress on the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan was aimed to form a corrupt government in Afghanistan, reported TOLONews.

The office of former president Hamid Karzai reacted to Hanafi's remarks, saying: "The former Afghan president does not consider the remarks of the vice and virtue minister significant enough to warrant a discussion but would advise him that unity is the path to stability and a national system in (our) beloved country," the statement said.

With the fall of the former government, the former president, Ashraf Ghani, and his aids left the country. Karzai, Abdullah and some of the Afghan leaders are still settled in the country.

( With inputs from ANI )

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