Taliban chief orders fighters not to 'punish' former regime members

KABUL, Dec 30: The Taliban's supreme leader has ordered fighters not to punish members of Afghanistan's former regime for past "crimes", days after a video of an army commander being beaten went viral on social media.
The order, tweeted Thursday by group spokesman Mohammad Naeem, also urged Taliban authorities to discourage Afghans from leaving the country as they would not be respected abroad.
"Don't punish employees of the previous regime for their past crimes," Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada was quoted as telling followers in Kandahar, the birthplace of the hardline Islamist movement.    -AFP