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LDP condemns beheading of Hazara passengers
By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: Condemning the brutal killing of eight passengers by the Islamic State in Zabul province, the Labor and Development Party (LDP) said the National Unity Government (NUG) is racked by internal differences that have prevented it from acting to protect the public from the Taliban and Daesh.
Denouncing beheading of seven Hazara passengers, Chief of the LDP, Zulfiqar Omid, said that after several months of captivity the abductees were beheaded in Zabul but the government did not take satisfactory steps to rescue the victims.
Speaking at a press conference here he strongly condemned this brutal act of Daesh, and urged the international community and human rights organizations to show strong reaction against Daesh, Taliban and their supporters.
He said that this was not the first incident of kidnapping, but many such other incidents took place on Kabul-Kandahar highway; however, the government failed to ramp up security.
Omid said that women and children were also beheaded which traumatized the nation and questions credibility of the government and effectiveness of the security apparatus.
Kidnapping of passengers started nine months ago when 31 people were abducted on the Kabul-Kandahar highway; however, the government acted as a silent spectator. Different incidents took place in Badakhshan, Kunduz, Helmand and Nangarhar provinces in the past year, but the government failed to come up with a clear position on the issue before the public, the LDP chief said.
Asking people to take decision and stand for their own safety in the country, he said the government committed negligence in its duty.
Niamatullah was one of the 31 passengers who was abducted nine months ago and killed by the militants.
Criticizing the government, Niamatullah’s son said the authorities failed to secure safe release of the passengers despite repeated calls.
“My father was killed after a few weeks of abduction on Zabul-Ghazni highway. It has been eight months that I could not receive dead body of my father. The government is not ready to help me,” he said.
Responding to a question he said that high-ranking officials were not ready to meet with him, especially the president and the chief executive.
He said the NUG was not a public-friendly government but a family government, focused on personal interests rather than safety of citizens and national interests.
It is the most fundamental obligation of the government to keep its citizens safe from militants and protect the vulnerable from the wicked, but the government is not doing it, he lamented.
