Former military personnel, under the rule of the Taliban regime, find themselves caught between the vengeful acts of this group and severe poverty. Some former security forces members state that the looming threat of death, extrajudicial courts, detainment, and torture by the Taliban shadows them, exacerbating hunger and Unemployment, further complicating their livelihoods. Many of these forces are now pursued and detained by the Taliban on charges of affiliations with anti-Taliban fronts.
During the past week, the Taliban simultaneously requested district representatives in the provinces of Kunduz and Herat to share the addresses and phone numbers of former military personnel. The Taliban had previously undertaken similar actions in Kabul and several other provinces, resulting in the detention of former security forces members. Currently, the Taliban, employing the tactic of attracting former personnel to their opposition fronts, imprison ex-military personnel. Amidst this, women and girls who had worked in security institutions during the previous government also complain about the dire economic situation and unemployment, alleging that some of their former colleagues are now resorting to begging on the streets.
Upon seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban initially declared a general amnesty, stating that all former security forces, as well as other civilian and military personnel, would not be subjected to retaliation, persecution, or capture by the group. However, in practice, the Taliban have killed dozens of former military personnel, and hundreds more are currently incarcerated in the group’s prisons.
In a six-month investigative report, The New York Times found that the Taliban had killed or disappeared nearly 500 former government employees, including officers from previous security institutions in Afghanistan. Subsequent reports from various media outlets indicate that the Taliban have continued their massacre of former military personnel.
Sources in several provinces, including Kunduz and Herat, confirm that the Taliban have requested district representatives to provide information about former security forces, asking them to share the addresses and contact numbers of those who have left the country.
Meanwhile, General Mohammad Farid Ahmadi, the former commander of the Afghan National Army Commando Corps, speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, reveals that the Taliban have established a mechanism for identifying individuals in the provinces where they had the most recruitment in the former security forces.
Mr. Ahmadi further asserts that out of the 36,000 members of the former government’s special forces, a considerable number have been arrested and ruthlessly tortured. He claims that the Taliban have targeted these forces for retaliation, accusing them of being associated with or collaborating with anti-Taliban military fronts, based on a specific “geography and ethnicity.”
The former commander of the Afghan National Army Commando Corps states that there is no clear chain of command within the military hierarchy of the Taliban regime. According to him, only the Taliban intelligence is aware of the number of political prisoners and former military personnel, political authorities, and other military commanders of the group have no information in this regard. Mr. Ahmadi specifies that last year, over 800 former commandos were held in Taliban prisons. He adds that the Taliban transferred these prisoners from one province to another, and the fate of most of them remains unknown, as there is no information about the destiny of these forces.
Mr. Ahmadi emphasizes that within the prisons, the Taliban move their influential individuals under the guise of “fighters of the resistance front” to gather information. They use various methods to extract information from former military personnel in captivity and, at times, under the pretext of internal conflicts, carry out killings of military personnel within the prison walls.
Simultaneously, a former commando officer, recently released from a Taliban prison in Balkh province, claims that the prison is filled with soldiers from special forces units. He states, “The Mazari Sharif prison is specifically designed for Persian speakers. Currently, individuals are taken from Badakhshan, Takhar, Samangan, Jawzjan, Kunduz, Baghlan, and even Mazari Sharif itself, including those affiliated with the Commando, Special Forces, and other special units, are held there.”
This former special forces member adds that the Taliban employ various tricks to detain former military personnel. He says, “They [the Taliban] pretend to be apparent members of the resistance front, reaching out to the phone numbers of military personnel they want to trap and thus ensnare them.”
This former military personnel adds, “The Taliban placed propaganda materials for the resistance front in an ordinary man’s shop and subsequently imprisoned him. The fate awaiting him is uncertain. It’s crucial for us, as citizens, to seek a viable solution; otherwise, we face dire consequences. I wish for an opportunity to sacrifice my life like my comrades.”
This former military personnel, while facing retaliation, detention, killings, and harassment by the Taliban, express grievances that some female military members state persistent unemployment and increasing poverty have made life difficult for them.
One female former military personnel, who served in the former army, tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily, “I am in an extremely difficult life situation. I am unemployed and live with only my mother and sister, my mother is sick. The struggle is real – when we manage money for bread, there’s none left for her medicine, and vice versa. We live in bewilderment, adding to the stress, constantly fearing detention at any moment.”
This report features interviews with four former military personnel who share similar circumstances. One female ex-military member states that, due to economic hardships, she has been in Iran for about three months, residing in the home of a relative.
Former female military members add that poverty and destitution have wreaked havoc on their lives, and some of their comrades have resorted to begging on the streets due to hunger. An officer from the Ministry of Defense of the previous government of Afghanistan mentions that her home has been inspected four times, and she has been interrogated by the Taliban multiple times. She is currently suffering severely from unemployment.
Previously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily reported on information about the plight of former military personnel in Taliban prisons, which is deeply disturbing. Released military individuals recount hanging from their feet, being urinated on the face, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, hanging stones on the testicles, and being submerged in cold water as some of the most common torture methods employed by the Taliban.
Over the past two years, the Taliban have repeatedly subjected former security forces to extrajudicial courts and firing squads, accusing them of collaborating with anti-Taliban military fronts.
Recently, a video circulating on social media depicts the execution of an individual by Taliban fighters, illustrating that the Taliban is firing squad and executing him collectively on charges of “rebel.”
A Taliban commander, accompanied by six fighters in the unclear date and location captured in the footage, states that the punishment for “rebel” is death. This Taliban action has sparked widespread reactions from social media users. Some, denouncing this vigilante justice, emphasize that such actions are perceived as “mandatory” for the Taliban members, and each Taliban fighter simultaneously acts as a judge, police, and executioner.
