The Taliban, the main Afghan insurgent group, has given assurance of the safety of interpreters who had worked for foreign militaries during the 20 years of their stay in the war-torn country. 

The assurance came after that various reports suggested thousands of Afghan interpreters who are seeking to get out of Afghanistan to the US and European countries amid heightened security risks. The governments of the UK and the US are processing such requests seeking asylum. 

Releasing a statement on Sunday, the Taliban said, “We used to consider them our enemy when they stood directly in the line of our enemy, but whenever they leave the line of the enemy and want to live as a normal Afghan in their country, they will not have any problems and they should not be afraid.”

However, the group added that if someone fakes threats just to go abroad, it won’t be the problem of the Taliban. 

Since 2014, 300 interpreters and their family members have been killed in Afghanistan, according to a report in the Washington Post. 

Anxiety among interpreters, an educated tribe of professionals much in demand, especially among those who worked for foreign militaries, is increasing as foreign troops withdraw from the country. The spree of targeted killings and assassinations is making life difficult for them. On Monday alone, three people were killed in targeted assassinations in Afghan capital Kabul. 

The US alone is processing 18,000 requests from Afghans seeking asylum in the United States on the basis of the security risk. Around 300 Afghans are in the process of getting asylum in the UK. 

(SAM)