Afghanistan, Sept. 2 -- Austria has deported a 26-year-old Afghan man convicted of serious crimes, marking another step in the country's renewed policy of returning Afghan nationals with criminal records despite international concerns over conditions in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Austria's Interior Ministry said the Afghan national was deported via Istanbul after serving prison sentences for serious property crimes and drug-related offenses. Officials said he had spent more than two and a half years in prison and had 20 criminal police records in Austria.
The ministry said Austria and Germany are among the first European countries to have resumed direct deportations to Afghanistan and Syria after suspending removals following the Taliban'...