The forces of the Islamic Emirate seized six Humvees in house-to-house searches in PD 2 of the capital city of Kabul, security officials said on Friday.
The house-to-house searches or so-called clearing operations were launched by the Islamic Emirate last week in Kabul and in neighboring provinces. Friday was the sixth day of the raids.
A spokesman for the Kabul security department, Khalid Zadran, said that the Islamic Emirate’s forces had seized military equipment from houses in Kabul. “Hundreds light and heavy weapons were seized in these clearing operations. In PD 2 of (Kabul city) we detected six Humvees,” he said.
Earlier the Islamic Emirate in a statement said that seven Humvees were seized from a residence in PD 2 of Kabul city.
According to some reports, the house-to-house raids began in the northern provinces of Balkh and Faryab. The Islamic Emirate earlier called on residents to voluntarily hand over the military equipment, weapons and other government property.
However, the residents expressed criticism over the lack of women personnel among the forces of the Islamic Emirate that are searching the houses. “It would be better if there were women and an Imam from the mosque,” said a Kabul resident.
“There are some weapons with the people. It is illegal. It is better to seize the unlicensed weapons,” said a Kabul resident.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, First deputy of the PM, told a national private sector gathering in Kabul on Thursday that the house-to-searches are intended to provide security for the citizens and that the citizens should welcome it.
Military analysts said the Islamic Emirate forces should refrain from illegal acts during the raids.
“These searches have violated the legal rights of the people. The Islamic Emirate must not take illegal action,” said Samar Sadat, a military analyst.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate called the recent house-to-house searches “constructive,” saying that many weapons and ammunition were captured. Also several Daesh fighters, robbers and kidnappers were captured in the so-called clearing operation.
Talking at a press conference in Kabul, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said recent house clearings were intended to catch criminals, some of whom were released from prison during the change of government.
According to Mujahid, women were among the Islamic Emirate forces searching homes, and only “suspected areas” were searched. “Nine kidnappers, six affiliated with Daesh, and 53 robbers were detained,” Mujahid said. Some residents of Kabul said that their houses were raided by Islamic Emirate forces. “They said that the family should remain inside the house—they looked everywhere except one room where women were,” said Ali Yasar, a resident of Kabul.
“Today around 10:30am, they (Islamic Emirate Forces) came. There was a woman among them, they entered the houses and conducted the searches in a good way,” said Mohammad Rafi, a resident of Kabul.
