Khost residents report increase in burglaries

KHOST CITY (PAN): With officials giving no exact figures for burglaries in this capital of city of southeastern Khost province, residents said on Wednesday a number of robberies have been carried out in the recent past, involving armed men in border police uniform.

A resident of Khost City, Anwar Khan, said a group of armed men wearing border police uniform broke into his house at night and stole his money and jewelry.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News it was around 2:00am when five uniformed men entered their house and tied him before stealing 161 gram of gold, 115 gram of silver, 100,000 afghanis cash, three mobiles and four expensive watches.

Another resident Nasim Gul said a similar incident took place at his uncle house and that burglary also involved men in police uniform.

He said the robbers told his uncle they had come to search houses in the area, but forcibly took away money, jewelry and other expensive things from the house.

Provincial council chief Syed Karim Khaksar confirmed receiving reports about robberies in the city, saying such incidents had been reported in remote villages as well.

He asked security agencies to adopt strict security measures for preventing such incidents from happening.

Mubariz Mohammad Zadran, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News several rounds of talks had been held with locals on how to work out a comprehensive strategy aimed at controlling crimes.

Speaking at a conference about security challenges facing Khost province, Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi said he was concerned about the use of security forces uniform by militants and criminals in their activities.

He said such incidents had left people worried because they could not distinguish between security forces and criminals.

Armed robbers often target businessmen. Residents have accused security forces of failing to take any effective action against criminals.

Earlier, the governor criticised police and other law enforcement agencies, saying due to their incompetency and negligence, crimes had increased in the province.

fbr/ma

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