Residents harassed at Kabul police check-posts

KABUL processions in the central capital Kabul

Kabul residents said police deployed at all the entrances to Kabul City searched every person and did not allow people to enter the city since morning. Inside the city, they said pedestrians were searched on footpaths.

A shopkeeper, Haji Haroon, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “I travelled from Jalalabad to Kabul this morning. Police did not allow vehicles at the Pul-i-Charkhi area to enter Kabul City.”

He said passengers disembarked vehicles to walk towards the city, but they were too stopped. However, people were finally allowed to go ahead after subjected each one to a thorough search, he said.

He said police told them the searches were part of security measures for Ashura, but their actions caused great inconvenience for people.  “Security measures should not mean harassing people,” Haroon said.

A Kart-i-Naw locality resident Noor Aziz claimed an ailing woman died after failing to reach hospital because police had blocked with barricades the second Shah Shahid road lane.

“Instead of blocking roads, police should prevent security incidents on the basis of intelligence reports,” he said.

Syed Ikhtiyar, who lives in the eight police district, said he remained stranded in traffic in the Chaman Hozori area because police had blocked the road. He said police were not allowing vehicles to proceed and used to search pedestrians.

He said police stopped a passenger vehicle in the Chandawal area and did not let it go, forcing the passengers to reach their destinations on foot.

Officials at the Kabul police headquarters did not return repeated calls seeking their comments about people’s complaints.

A day earlier, Interior Ministry spokesman Siddique Siddiqui told Pajhwok Afghan News that tight security arrangements had been put in place for Ashura processions.

He said police would block roads deemed as sensitive from security point of view in order to ensure the day passed off peacefully.

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