Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has issued an order for the execution of eleven Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network prisoners after deadly Kabul attack, according to Afghan media outlets.
Khaama Press news agency reports that sources privy to the development have said the step by the President was taken after the deadly attack in Kabul that left at least 80 people dead.
The Afghan intelligence reportedly said late Wednesday that credible intelligence information confirms the attack was carried out by the network on direct instructions and with the support of the Pakistani military intelligence, Inter Services Intelligence.
Salim Rasouli, head of hospitals in Kabul, said 80 dead and 461 wounded had been brought to the city's hospitals but at least 10 other people were known to be missing and believed dead, with relatives still searching morgues and hospitals more than 24 hours after the blast.
Meanwhile, the Taliban warned the Afghan government on Thursday against harming any of their prisoners after reports that President Ashraf Ghani would order the execution of 11 militants on death row in revenge for the devastating truck bomb attack in Kabul.
In a statement, the Taliban, who repeated their denial of involvement, responded to the reports by threatening retaliation against the Kabul government and the justice system in particular if any prisoners were harmed.
"The administration of Kabul will be responsible for the outcome of incidents and any kind of losses." the movement's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, according to Reuters.
But the National Directorate for Security, Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, has blamed the Haqqani network, an affiliate group directly integrated into the Taliban, and said it had acted with the help of Pakistan's intelligence service.
Reuters reports that two senior Afghan officials confirmed that a list had been drawn up of prisoners, all convicted members of the Taliban or the Haqqani network, but said no order had been signed.
A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected the allegations as baseless, calling them “unhelpful towards efforts for peace.”
Wednesday's blast, at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, ripped through a traffic-clogged street, packed with people on their way to school or work during the morning rush hour, causing hundreds of casualties.
