The acting interior minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Sirajuddin Haqqani, has called on former high-ranking government officials and security forces to return home.

During a visit to Kabul police headquarters this week, Haqqani urged officials to return and assured them of their security.

Haqqani said the Islamic Emirate defends the dignity, property and honor of all citizens of the country, and those who return to Afghanistan will be safe.

“We invite those who went abroad to return home. High-ranking officials of the former government can live here with dignity. The Islamic Emirate fully defends your honor, dignity and property,” said Haqqani.

A number of political analysts have meanwhile said that the Islamic Emirate should create a proper mechanism for the return of skilled Afghans who left the country and that the general amnesty should be implemented properly across the country.

“The government should establish a fully-fledged mechanism for the return of the previous government’s forces, and this mechanism should be implemented by popular individuals and figures in the country,” said Ahmad Jawed Sangdil, one political analyst.

“The general amnesty must be properly implemented and the restrictions must be lifted so that these forces can return home safely,” said Abdul Wali Frozan, another analyst.

This comes after Amnesty International said in a recent report that after the Islamic Emirate took control of Afghanistan, ethnic and religious minorities, former security forces and individuals thought to be supporters of the former government have been targteted and in some cases tortured by the Islamic Emirate, despite assurances of a blanket amnesty across the country.