Sources in Balkh have expressed serious concern over widespread bribery and extortion at the Road Transport Regulation Directorate under Taliban control in the province. They say that certain individuals, in collusion with the Taliban, are placing heavy pressure on people who visit the directorate to complete their official paperwork. According to the sources, these individuals use various pretexts to squeeze money out of companies, trade-union representatives, and drivers of both heavy and light cargo vehicles, applying pressure in a range of forms.
The findings of this report indicate that drivers and representatives of transport companies in Balkh are deeply worried about the intense pressure being exerted by the Taliban, and that their complaints have gone unanswered by local Taliban officials and have even been met with threats. Information obtained shows that vehicle stations have been divided up among Taliban representatives, who, outside the framework of the commission responsible for issuing travel permits to cargo and passenger vehicles, are granting departure clearances in exchange for money and without regard to the proper queue.
The sources say that they have repeatedly approached the head of the Taliban Road Transport Directorate in Balkh, but their complaints and requests have received no attention. They describe this local Taliban official as “oppressive and corrupt,” saying he has threatened those who come to him with grievances. According to them, Taliban members, including the group’s intelligence chief in the province, are extorting money from companies, and no one can raise their voice against it.
The sources say that the manager of the Shibirghan to Maimana station is loading taxis out of turn from inside Mazar-e Sharif and collecting between 300 and 500 Afghanis (AFN) from each vehicle. According to them, this money is divided up among other Taliban officials at the end of the day, and no receipt of any kind is issued to the drivers in exchange.
According to the sources, Mullah Fayaz, the manager of the Shulgara belt, takes commissions from heavy-tonnage vehicles without following the legal procedures or going through the commission, and warns drivers that he operates as a special appointee of the deputy minister of transport of the Taliban. According to the sources, this is the mechanism through which he carries out his extortion.
The sources also stress that another individual identified as “Raees Hakimi” claims he fears no higher authority within the Taliban regime and daily pushes 25 to 30 vehicles through outside the commission’s ruling. According to the sources, he pockets between 1,000 and 1,500 Afghanis from each driver. At the same time, the sources add that between 150 and 200 vehicles are cleared each day by the designated Taliban commission.
Another source says that drivers at the urban vehicle stations pay in three separate categories: transport, traffic, and leasing, the latter being responsible for the rental of the station itself. According to this source, the gates of the urban belt have been parceled out among individuals close to the Taliban, and in some cases, each employee collects up to fifty thousand Afghanis in bribes from cargo vehicles over the course of a single night.
The same source adds that widespread corruption exists across all government offices under Taliban control in Balkh. According to the source, the Taliban demand bribes directly, without any fear or hesitation. He adds that one individual had gone to obtain a real estate brokerage license and was told plainly by the Taliban office that he had to pay, otherwise he was welcome to file a complaint anywhere he wished; in the end, he was forced to pay more than 3,000 Afghanis in bribes. According to the source, this bribe was not taken by a single Taliban office alone, and the practice continued across several of the group’s offices until the license was finalized.
This comes as, earlier, several visitors to the General Directorate of Road Transport Regulation in Kabul accused the Taliban of discriminatory treatment based on ethnicity and language. They say that Pashtun employees of the directorate, most of whom are residents of Maidan Wardak province, treat visitors in a demeaning manner. According to them, citizens and representatives of transport companies, particularly in the reception hall and the company regulation office, have been worn down by the humiliating conduct of Taliban staff.
Citizens of the country have repeatedly complained that, despite the Taliban’s claims of fighting administrative corruption, many members of the group are themselves involved in administrative and financial corruption, and that they abuse their positions and authority to facilitate extortion and bribery in various forms.
Earlier, Transparency International (TI) had reported that Afghanistan under Taliban rule fell four places on the global Corruption Perceptions Index in 2025, dropping to 169th position. According to the report, Afghanistan scored 16 out of 100 and ranked 169th among 182 countries and territories. In the 2024 ranking, Afghanistan held 165th place with a score of 17.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
باجگیری و تقسیم ایستگاهها؛ رانندهگان و شرکتها از رشوهستانی طالبان به ستوه آمدهاند
