Credible sources in Samangan and Bamiyan have reported that Mohammad Tahir Zohair, the former governor of Bamiyan, has surrendered to the Taliban. On Thursday, May 10, Zohair reportedly surrendered to the Taliban in the Dar-e Suf district of Samangan province.
According to one source, Zohair and his followers were besieged in the mountains of Dar-e Suf and on the borders of Bamiyan, Sar-e pul, and Samangan provinces, with no access to basic necessities. After nearly two years of living in the mountains, Mohammad Tahir Zohair came down and surrendered to local Taliban officials in the Dar-e Suf district of Samangan province.
Zohair withdrew his opposition to the group after members of his family and relatives were threatened, detained, and tortured by the Taliban in Bamiyan, Samangan, and Kabul. Zohair’s relatives have not confirmed or denied the news.
Although local Taliban officials in Samangan have not commented on the matter, a credible source in the Taliban intelligence agency in Samangan told Hasht-e Subh that Mohammad Tahir Zohair, one of the resistance front commanders in Balkhab and Dar-e Suf, surrendered to the “Islamic Emirate” yesterday in the Dahan-Tor Bazar of Dar-e Suf.
Mohammad Tahir Zohair, the former governor of Bamiyan and acting minister of information and culture in the previous government, fought against the Taliban alongside Mawlawi Mahdi, a Hazara commander opposed to the Taliban in the Balkhab district of Sar-e Pul province last year. After Mahdi’s death, Zohair took command of his forces.
