The Taliban has executed a nephew of former mujahedin commander Abdul Haq who was captured and hanged by the Islamic militia last month, family members said Wednesday.
Izzatullah Khan Sahil, 22, escaped when the Taliban ambushed Abdul Haq on October 26 shortly after the exiled war veteran had entered the country from Pakistan to rally the southern Pashtun tribes to revolt against the Taliban regime.
But his cousin Mohammad Yousaf told AFP Wednesday that Izzatullah had been caught and hanged this week.
"According to our information, Izzat was later caught by the Taliban and put to death immediately this week," he said.
The family tried to secure the body but the Taliban refused and buried him in the family village of Surkhrood, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, he said.
Izzatullah had entered Afghanistan with Abdul Haq on October 21 on a mission to muster support among the Pashtun ethnic majority, the Taliban's main power base, for an alternative multi-ethnic government under the banner of ousted ex-king Mohammed Zahir Shah.
But Abdul Haq's lightly armed group was discovered and surrounded by Taliban troops. US air support failed to help him escape and he was executed near Kabul on October 26.
Abdul Haq's brother, Haji Qasim, also joined the mission and is still in Afghanistan, relatives said.
Family member Abdul Rahim denied rumours of Qasim's capture and execution, saying "according to our sources he is safe and heading to northern Afghanistan."
Abdul Haq's mission received backing from the United States. The Taliban said he was found in possession of several satellite telephones and cash in US dollars.
Another exiled Pashtun tribal leader, former deputy foreign minister Hamid Karzai, also entered southern Afghanistan and narrowly escaped capture by the Taliban last week.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday Karzai had been in Afghanistan with a "number of supporters and troops and we have, I know, delivered ammunition and some supplies to him."
But he said US forces helped Karzai return to Pakistan while Rumsfeld was traveling in the region over the weekend.
"At his request, he was extracted from Afghanistan with a small number of senior supporters and fighters, I believe, for consultations in Pakistan," Rumsfeld said.
He said he thought Karzai, 46, would return to Afghanistan when the consultations were finished.
US warplanes rushed to protect Karzai during an attack by Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing senior officials -- ISLAMABAD, (AFP)
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