Some residents of the Jaghori district in Ghazni province report that local Taliban are extorting money from all public construction projects funded by the community.
In interviews with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, many residents reveal that the Taliban demand 10 percent of the total cost of each project—such as the construction of irrigation dams, clinics, schools, and roads—under the guise of a tax. They also disrupt the progress of these projects.
Sources from the Jaghori district confirm that several construction projects remain incomplete this year due to Taliban extortion. These sources explain that the lack of sufficient funding has halted implementation and that the Taliban district governor collects the money.
Residents from various villages in Jaghori, speaking anonymously to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, verify that the Taliban are extorting funds from community projects. These sources stress that instead of securing funding or allocating a budget from the Taliban regime for public works, the Taliban are targeting local funds and obstructing progress through unwarranted extortion.
A resident of Loman, a village in Jaghori, shares that a large irrigation dam has been under construction in the area. So far, residents living abroad have contributed nearly one million US dollars to the project. Despite these efforts and expenditures, the dam remains incomplete after two years.
The resident adds: “This dam is a necessity for the people, and eventually, residents inside and outside the country decided to take action. Normally, balanced development across the country is the responsibility of the government. Unfortunately, here it is the opposite. Instead of providing support, they demand even more money from us, claiming we are rich! That’s not true—we had to build the dam out of sheer poverty, just to ensure survival.”
Jafar (pseudonym), another resident from Zarak village in Jaghori, confirms that the construction of another irrigation dam in his area is also incomplete due to Taliban extortion. He recounts: “When the dam construction began, Taliban district officials visited the site and declared that 10 percent of the project budget belongs to the government [the Taliban regime] and must be paid in cash. People are spending their hard-earned money to build this dam for a better future, not to fill the pockets of individuals or serve unknown purposes.”
In Pato, another area in Jaghori district, sources confirm that the Taliban district governor has extorted at least one million Afghanis from residents under the pretext of taxation. Despite the community’s efforts over the past three years to build two small irrigation dams, two schools, and a health center, Taliban extortion has disrupted the completion of these projects.
Many Jaghori residents say they have repeatedly approached Taliban officials in Ghazni and Kabul to resolve this issue and end the unjust extortion. However, their appeals have gone unanswered. According to these residents, despite their persistent efforts, the extortion continues, with no serious action taken by the Taliban authorities to address the problem.
This situation arises as Jaghori residents have recently launched several public projects, including the construction of schools, health centers, roads, and irrigation dams, funded entirely from their own pockets. These projects have collectively cost millions, and several others are currently underway.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
طالبان در غزنی از پروژههایی که توسط مردم تمویل میشوند باجگیری میکنند | روزنامه ۸صبح
