The Taliban have executed Rohullah Azizi, brother of former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a text message from their family.
Azizi was killed on Thursday, Amrullah Saleh’s nephew Ebadullah Saleh told the news agency.
“They [Taliban] executed my uncle,” Ebadullah Saleh reportedly said in a text message. “They killed him yesterday and would not let us bury him. They kept saying his body should rot.”
The Taliban has not yet given an official statement or claimed responsibility for the alleged killing.
The report of Azizi’s killing came days after the Taliban claimed to have taken control of the Panjshir province, the last holdout of the forces resisting against the insurgent group’s takeover of Afghanistan.
The resistance forces denied the Taliban’s claim, but Amrullah Saleh, one of their prominent leaders, had gone into hiding. The whereabouts of Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, another leader of the resistance forces are not yet known.
On Monday, Massoud had released an audio message urging Afghans to participate in a “national uprising” against the Taliban. “Wherever you are, inside or outside, I call on you to begin a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country,” he added.
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