Taliban: Persons who worked with foreign forces safe in Afghanistan

Kabul (dpa) 7 June 2021 -  People who worked for foreign forces in Afghanistan will be safe and should not leave the country as the foreign forces withdraw, Taliban forces assured in a statement on Monday.  

“None should currently desert the country,” the statement reads. “The Islamic Emirate will not perturb them.”  
Tens of thousands of Afghans have worked with the international forces in the past 20 years as interpreters, security guards, and as helpers in other capacities.  

They fear retaliation from the Taliban once the foreign forces have left. Many have applied for special visas to leave the country.  

Many countries - including the United States, Germany and Britain - have programmes to resettle their local staff.

The applications of around 18,000 Afghans seeking a special immigration visa are currently pending at the US embassy in Kabul, according to embassy data.  

Thousands of others have already been resettled to the countries they have worked with.