Taliban visit closed Indian consulates, take away vehicles

THE Taliban visited closed Indian consulates in Afghan cities of Kandahar and Herat on Wednesday (18) and took away vehicles that were parked at both the diplomatic centres, India's Hindustan Times daily reported. In Kandahar, they also searched cupboards for papers, according to reports.

The extremist group conducted door-to-door searches in national capital Kabul to point out Afghans who were for the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the state-run intelligence agency. Details about what happened to the Indian consulate in Jalalabad and Kabul did not emerge immediately.

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The Hindustan Times cited reports from Kabul that nearly 6,000 cadre of the Haqqani Network have taken control of the Afghanistan capital under the leadership of Anas Haqqani, brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the terror outfit and deputy leader of the Taliban.

Reports from Kandahar said the Taliban cadre broke the locks of the Indian consulate and conducted searches. They also took away parked diplomatic vehicles with them. At Herat, they entered the consulate but did not make a forcible entry into the consulate but took away the vehicles.