The Taliban are pinning chilling 'night letters' on the doors of those they accuse of "working for the crusaders". The notes order their victims to attend a Taliban-convened court. Failure to do so will result in the death penalty, the Daily Mail reported. The letters are a traditional Afghan method of intimidation. They were used by mujahideen fighters during the Soviet occupation and then by the Taliban as both a propaganda tool and a threat.

Often used in rural communities, they are now being widely circulated in cities. One of those to receive a warning was Naz, a 34-year-old father-of-six whose construction company helped the UK military build roads in Helmand and the runway at Camp Bastion, the report said. He had applied for sanctuary in Britain under ARAP, the Afghan relocation programme, but had been rejected.