Taliban PM offers amnesty to Afghans who fled country and urges them to return

KABUL: A top Taliban official said late on Sunday that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would not be harmed if they come back.

Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eidul Azha. Akhund’s holiday message was posted on the social platform X.

“Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,” he said. “Nobody will harm them.” “Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,” he added, and instructed officials to properly manage services for returning refugees and to ensure they were given shelter and support.

He also used the occasion to criticize the media for making what he said were “false judgements” about Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their policies. “We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,” he said. “The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimise the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.”