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2021-08-19 Afghanistan
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BBC liveblog: Taliban step up hunt for collaborators - UN report
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Posted at 10:09 REACTION FROM PAKISTAN: GLEE - AND WARNINGS
When the news of Taliban taking over Kabul broke on Pakistani news channels, the responses were mixed.
But most - including some Pakistani politicians and a majority among the religious parties - couldn’t hide their glee that America had “lost”.
Many began pointing to a clip of the late former director-general of Pakistan’s spy agency – called the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - describing the US withdrawal as “his vision”.
In the May 2014 clip, Hamid Gul, also known as the "Father of the Taliban", can be heard saying that "when history will be written it will be said that ISI defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with America's help.
“But it will also be added that ISI defeated America (in Afghanistan) with America's help."
Not everyone is overjoyed at developments over the border – and warnings have begun to emerge aimed at those who might hope to pull strings from afar.
Pakistan has long been accused of playing a paradoxical role in Afghanistan. The country has previously been accused by the US, India, and most importantly by its own politicians and activists of using Afghanistan as a "backyard" to provide safe haven for militants to be used against India.
Senator Sherry Rehman, talking to the BBC, said that it would be a mistake for Pakistan to once again see Afghanistan as a “strategic backyard”.
Meanwhile, the former chairperson for Pakistan’s senate committee for human rights, Afrasiab Khattak, has come under fire from the state for his blunt criticism of Pakistan’s previous mistakes.
“Basically [the Taliban] are against the concept of a modern state,” he said. “Unfortunately, they are being supported from the outside.
“And those supporting them will pay a heavy price just the way they did in the past."
Posted at 8:10 'TALIBAN INTENSIFYING HUNT FOR PEOPLE WHO COLLABORATED WITH US AND NATO TROOPS'
A UN document says the Taliban are intensifying their hunt for people who worked for and collaborated with Nato and US forces.
The confidential paper was produced by the Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses, which provides the UN with intelligence information.
“The Taliban are arresting and/or threatening to kill or arrest family members of target individuals unless they surrender themselves to the Taliban,” the document, seen by the BBC said.
It said that those at particular risk were people with positions in the military, police and investigative units.
“The Taliban have been conducting advance mapping of individuals prior to take take-over of all major cities,” it said.
It added that the militants were screening for individuals while permitting some evacuation of foreign personnel from Kabul airport but the situation there remained “chaotic”.
According to the report, the Taliban are recruiting new informer networks to collaborate with the new regime.
Posted at 7:02 PROTESTS ON INDEPENDENCE DAY
National flag-waving Afghans have been seen protesting in several cities on Thursday, which marks the 102nd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence and falls at a time of great uncertainty and upheaval for the country.
One clip shared on social media appears to show a crowd in Kabul chanting "our flag, our identity" about the black, red and green tricolour national flag.
The Reuters news agency, citing witnesses, reports that several people may have been killed at a similar protest on Thursday in Asadabad - either by gunfire or in stampedes the firing triggered.
The reports of casualties come a day after several deaths were also reported at flag-related demonstrations in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Videos on social media have shown some protesters appearing to remove and replace Taliban flags in places - pocket displays of defiance against the group's swift rise to power.
Posted at 6:46 UK AMBASSADOR PERSONALLY PROCESSING VISAS IN KABUL
The UK's Ambassador in Afghanistan, Sir Laurie Bristow, has remained in Kabul to help the evacuation of remaining Britons and has also been personally processing visa applications at the airport.
He has been praised for putting his own evacuation plans on hold, with people including the leader of the UK's Labour party, Sir Keir Starmer thanking him for staying behind to help.
Sir Laurie, who only took up his position as Ambassador in June, said on Wednesday that his team was working on the basis that they have "days not weeks" to get British nationals and Afghan's who worked with the UK's armed forces to safety.
While several countries have already evacuated their embassy staff, Bristow joined the French and American Ambassadors, who have also remained at Kabul airport. 
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