Does anyone really believe the Taliban's assertions that they are not looking for revenge and are taking a “moderate” course?

As the Taliban spokesman Sabihullah Mujahid claimed at a press conference?

His assurances and those of other Taliban leaders are opposed by facts.

Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that a close relative of one of its editors has been murdered.

He was shot dead by Taliban fighters.

The Taliban had been looking for the DW journalist from house to house in the west of the country, but he was now working in Germany.

A second family member was seriously injured in the attack.

"Other relatives of the man escaped at the last second and are on the run," the report said.

The station's director, Peter Limbourg, said: “The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban is incredibly tragic and proves the acute danger in which all our employees and their families find themselves in Afghanistan.

The Taliban are apparently already conducting an organized search for journalists in Kabul and the provinces.

The time is running out!"

According to the broadcaster, the homes of at least three DW journalists were searched by the Taliban.

Colleagues from other media have been kidnapped or killed.

Nematullah Hemat from the private broadcaster Ghargasht TV was presumably kidnapped by the Taliban, Toofan Omar, head of the private radio station Paktia Ghag Radio, was allegedly killed by Taliban fighters, according to the authorities.

Deutsche Welle, together with other media - including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - and organizations in an open letter called on the federal government to set up a visa emergency program for Afghan employees.

"Our lives are in danger"

The well-known Afghan TV presenter Shabnam Dauran announced that she could no longer work after the radical Islamic Taliban came to power. "I was told I could not continue my work because the system had changed," Shabnam Dauran said in a video message on Thursday . "Anyone who sees this and if the world hears me: Please help us, our lives are in danger." Journalist works, most recently for the television station RTA. Unlike her male colleagues, she was not granted access to the broadcaster's office even when she presented her ID card.

When the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, they imposed an extremely rigid interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law.

Women were not allowed to work, and schools for girls were closed.

The penalties for breaking the law were often cruel.

Thieves' hand was chopped off.

Women accused of adultery were stoned to death.

After taking the capital Kabul on Sunday, the Islamists pledged to respect women's rights.

Women should therefore be allowed to continue to work, provided that their employment is in accordance with "the principles of Islam".