Taliban men hang student suspected over assassination
KABUL: Taliban militants hanged a university student in public in a village west of Kabul after accusing him of involvement in the death of a senior Taliban official, a local government spokesman said on Saturday.
Abdul Rahman Mangal said Faiz ul Rahman Wardak, a fourth-year student at Kabul Polytechnic University, was hanged in Sewaka village in Chak district, 60 km (37 miles) outside the Afghan capital.
He said local Taliban insurgents accused him of being involved in the assassination of a Taliban intelligence official named Mullah Mirwais.
“He wanted to spend his holiday at home but was captured on Thursday by local Taliban and they hanged him in public,” Mangal said.
“As soon as we got information, we tried to help him but the Taliban hanged him immediately.” Photographs apparently showing the body of the man, hanged by the neck from an improvised gallows, circulated on social media.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said the case was under probe. “Once we finish our investigation, we will share the details,” he said. REUTERS ISLAMABAD: The US House of Representatives has passed a defence bill that pledges $900 million in economic and other assistance to Pakistan, a significant portion of which is dependent of a Pentagon certification that the country is taking demonstrable steps against the dreaded Haqqani Network.
The US National Defence Authorisation Act for fiscal year 2017 was passed in the House of Representatives on Friday.
The bill limits the overall amount available for reimbursement to $1.1 billion, of which $900 million is available for reimbursement to Pakistan.
It extends Congressional notification and certification requirements regarding reimbursements to Pakistan. The bill specifies that certain reimbursements to Pakistan are ineligible for a national security waiver unless the department of defence makes specified certifications regarding the activities of Pakistan with respect to the Haqqani network.
According to Dawn newspaper, the bill conditions $450 million from this assistance to a certification.
This year the amount was $300 million, which was not released after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter refused to certify in Pakistan’s favour.
The bill is schedule for a vote in the Senate next week. Since it is a consensus bill, it is unlikely to face any opposition.
The bill notes that “the United States and Pakistan continue to have many critical shared interests, both economic- and security-related, which could be the foundation for a positive and mutually beneficial partnership.”