Taliban vacate stolen homes

The Taliban on Thursday ordered their fighters to leave private homes taken over during last month’s blitz when the group seized control of Afghanistan, an apparent effort to impose order in the ranks.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Kabul, the Taliban fired shots to disperse a women’s rally demanding equal rights while the regional chief for the International Federation of the Red Cross warned that Afghanistan was sliding into a “major humanitarian crisis.”

The order by Taliban Prime Minister Hasan Akhund followed recent public statements by Taliban officials hinting at plans to improve organization. It said Taliban members belonging to the militant group’s defense, interior and intelligence agencies who are living in private homes need to “report back to military bases” across the country.

In recent weeks, the Taliban abandoned their traditional civilian dress and donned military fatigues to project an air of authority. Bilal Karimi, a Taliban security official, confirmed the directive to The Associated Press.

In Kabul Thursday, the Taliban fired shots outside a local school to disperse a rally of six women demanding equal rights to education. The Taliban confiscated posters that read: “Do not burn our books!”

Other women coming to join the protest in the Kart-e-Char neighborhood were told to go home, according to a witness. Mawlawi Nasratullah, a Taliban official, later told reporters women had not asked for permission to rally.

The Taliban have violently dispersed rallies by women demanding that the rights they had gained in the past 20 years in Afghanistan not be taken away. When they last ruled in the 1990s, the Taliban banished women to their homes and denied them the right to education and work.

At a press conference in Kabul, Red Cross regional director Alexander Matheou predicted an “extremely difficult few months” ahead as temperatures drop, compounding food shortages from drought and poverty.