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JALALABAD (SW): In exclusive interviews with Salam Watandar, women and children kept captive by the pro-Daesh militants have narrated tales of their horrific ordeal.
Ghotay (not real name), is one such women who was kept captive by the militants in Achin district’s Momand Dara area. She was under captivity along with five other women, 2 children and 12 men after their abduction from Kot district’s Ahmad Khel area. Ghotay said the militants abducted her because they believed men of her family were associated with the anti-militant Afghan Local Police (ALP). “They had taken away men of our families, saying that the men have confessed to have worked in the ALP, they used to show us the videos of their execution”, she sighed.
Ghotay said despite being freed form the militants’ captivity, the horrific memories continue to haunt them. She appealed to the government to shift her to safer part of the country.
Salam Watandar correspondent wished to talk to a young girl who was also kept as prisoner by the militants, but the girl was too frightened to talk. Her mother informed that the girl gets shocked and goes mute upon hearing the name of ‘Daesh’.
A local elder from the Kot district told Salam Watandar on the condition of anonymity that the women have been freed by the militants in exchange of two women from Swat which were staying with the local community after a court set them free.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has raised concerns over safety of the civilians caught in armed clashed between the militants and the government forces. Sabrina Hamidi, local head of the AIHRC, has urged the warring sides to ensure safety of the civilians, especially women and children. According to the local Shinwari tribesmen, scores of civilians remain in Daesh captivity.
ENDS
