The Taliban Vowed No Revenge, One Afghan Family Tells A Different Story

"None of us had imagined we would be targeted like this," said a relative of Ajmal Omar, a politician in Afghanistan's Nangarhar

When the Taliban won back control of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar last month, they set out to settle a score with an old foe. As they searched for prominent local politician Ajmal Omar, who had helped drive the militants out of a Nangarhar district a year earlier and tried to dissuade young Afghans from joining them, Taliban members detonated explosives at his ancestral home.

They also looted gold and cars, and detained and whipped several of his relatives to try and establish his whereabouts. The events were recounted by two relatives who say they were targeted in the reprisals, 10 local officials and residents who witnessed or were familiar with the incidents and a former Afghan intelligence official.

Images from the sources, which Reuters could not independently verify, show a badly damaged property and family members with injuries they say were from Taliban beatings. Omar, 37, has gone into hiding.

He declined to comment for this story, citing security concerns. Soon after the Taliban seized power on August 15, the Islamist movement sought to reassure the international community and its former opponents by saying there would be no reprisals.