Taliban harassing press at all levels: US

Washington [US], August 21 (ANI/Sputnik): The US government is raising with Taliban officials whom it engages “at all levels” the growing number of reports that the Islamist movement (banned in Russia) is harassing the press following its occupation of the Afghan capital Kabul, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

“We’re raising them on all levels with our interlocutors,” Price said at the daily State Department press briefing on Friday when asked about reports of Taliban harassing media.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told US Representatives that Americans had had run-ins with the Taliban (which is banned in Russia) in Kabul, contradicting President Joe Biden’s claims that nationals were making their way to the airport unimpeded.

Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby later acknowledged that the US military was aware of reports of Americans being harassed and sometimes beaten by Taliban forces, calling the reports deeply troubling. (ANI/Sputnik)