QUETTA, March 23: Relatives of the three killed among 17 by Afghan security forces have claimed that the victims were not Taliban. Speaking to newsmen, the brothers of the three accused, who belonged to Quetta, said that they had gone to celebrate Nauroz in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The killers should be punished, they demanded after the Namaz-i-Janaza of Khaliq Dad, Ghani Khan and Syed Sardar Muhammad offered in the lawn of district city government on Thursday afternoon.
They stated that Khaliq Dad and Syed Sardar Muhammad were residents of Tareen road and Ghani of Shaldara suburb.
Meanwhile, Provincial Minister for Health Hafiz Hamadullah, while talking to Dawn from Chaman, severely condemned the killing of the Pakistani citizens by the Spin Boldak security forces and urged the federal government to ask the Afghanistan government to hand over the killers for trial in Pakistan.
He said a group of 20 Pakistanis had gone to Kabul via Spin Boldak to proceed further to Mazari-i-Sharif for attending the Nauroz function.
However, the Spin Boldak security forces had followed and arrested them in Kabul, brought them back to Spin Boldak and shot dead 17 out of the 20 people near eastern side of border with Pakistan.
He said the victims were not Talibans, adding that they had had dinner and lunch with the members of the Afghanistan parliament and the Afghan security forces and its intelligence had known it.
In reply to a question, the health minister said they had been killed at the behest of Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah to justify the charges levelled against Pakistan for cross-border terrorism.
About the Afghan security forces claim that the remaining three Taliban out of the 20 had escaped to Pakistan, the minister said it was not true as those Pakistanis were still in the custody of Afghan security forces.
He claimed that about 6,000 people in Chaman had attended the Namaz-i-Janaza of the nine Pakistanis killed by the Afghan forces. Bodies of the other 8 had been sent to their homes in Qila Abdullah, Kuchlak and Quetta, he added.