A resident of Logar province who currently lives in Germany claims that local Taliban officials have seized his 30-jirib almond orchard in the provincial center. Ahmadzai says that after the orchard was seized, part of its walls was demolished, thousands of almond trees were cut down, and the land was divided among several local Taliban officials and individuals affiliated with them. He adds that the orchard was inherited from his father and that he holds Sharia-compliant ownership documents for it, dating back to 1947. According to Ahmadzai, the orchard is located in the Umarabad area, part of the provincial center of Logar, near the province’s university, and once contained around three thousand eight-year-old almond trees, a residential house, and the dwelling of a family. He claims that individuals affiliated with the Taliban took control of the orchard after forcibly evicting its residents.
In an interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, Ahmadzai alleged that Mullah Hashem, the former Taliban security chief in Logar province, working in collaboration with the head of agriculture and the head of the judiciary of the group, demolished part of the orchard’s walls and, after evicting the residents, began the process of seizing it. He says, “In the center of Logar province, near the university, I own a piece of land whose Sharia documents date back to 1947. On this land, there is an almond orchard with around three thousand trees. Some time ago, Mullah Hashem Akhundzada, the former security chief of Logar province, in collaboration with the head of agriculture and the head ofthe judiciary, demolished part of the orchard’s walls, and after evicting the residents, began seizing the orchard and also cut down the almond trees.”
Mr. Ahmadzai adds that after the orchard was seized, the land was divided among several individuals affiliated with the Taliban, including Qari Ashraf, head of Border and Tribal Affairs for the Taliban in Logar province; Mullah Abdullah, known as “Tor Abdullah,” the current Taliban governor of Baghlan province; Mullah Allah Mohammad; and their associates. According to him, the construction of houses and guest houses inside the orchard is currently continuing covertly, and individuals affiliated with the Taliban are attempting to erase the orchard’s previous traces.
Ahmadzai says, “Mullah Hashem has asked his men to complete the construction within a short period of time so that the orchard’s previous traces are erased. I had also built a house inside the orchard myself, which cost around 300,000 dollars. Currently, paving and construction work continues on the disputed land, and around three thousand eight-year-old almond trees have either been cut down or are drying out.”
This Logar resident adds that he has raised this issue through his relatives with institutions under Taliban control, but that it has so far yielded no result. He also claims that after these complaints were filed, his brother was detained by the Taliban for 20 days. According to him, his brother has now been released on bail, and his family has been warned that if the matter is pursued again or made public through the media, he could face a two-year prison sentence. He says: “I have filed complaints with the [Taliban] Supreme Court, with Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada himself, and with other institutions, including the Land Authority, the Council of Ulema, and the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV), but my case has not yet been reviewed.”
This Logar resident says that in addition to the orchard, the Taliban also seized their agricultural land two years ago, and that it has only been six months since their orchard and residential house were seized as well.
These claims come as previous reports had already emerged of land seizures by individuals linked to Taliban officials in Helmand province. According to those reports, Abdul Ahad Fazli, the Taliban’s minister of communications, had seized a green area belonging to the agriculture department near the Helmand police headquarters.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
یک باشنده لوگر: مقامهای محلی طالبان باغ موروثیام را غصب و میان خود تقسیم کردهاند
