Several businesspeople in Mazar-e-Sharif, the center of Balkh province, are voicing serious concern over what they describe as “extortion and racketeering” by the Taliban. They say the Taliban, under various pretexts, collect money from individuals who operate stalls in areas designated by the group. According to them, any businessperson who refuses to pay this amount has the door of their stall sealed and stamped, and is not allowed to continue operating.
Several businesspeople and stall owners in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, expressing concern over the continuation of pressure from the Taliban, say that over the past five years, contrary to the group’s numerous promises to create economic opportunities, the Taliban have also taken away employment opportunities from the people and have engaged in widespread corruption and extortion.
One businessperson in Mazar-e-Sharif says: “Two months ago, Taliban officials in the first district of Mazar-e-Sharif collected 2,000 Afghanis from every mechanic’s stall along the road for the issuance of work permits. However, a few weeks ago, municipality officers came and warned all stall owners that within the next 10 days they must either pay 10,000 Afghanis or remove all their stalls from along the road. They said this area falls under the municipality’s jurisdiction and the district does not have the authority to issue permits for this location.”
Some mechanics in this district say that they have so far referred the matter to the Taliban municipality and the group’s district administration three times, but an individual named Shirmohammad, the manager of market permits for the first district, has not been willing to respond to them. They say that no local Taliban official has so far provided a clear answer regarding the money that was previously collected from businesspeople.
One mechanic says: “The [Taliban] mayor is not willing to speak with anyone. A person who is a close relative of the mayor has told mechanics and repair workers, outside the municipality premises, that anyone who pays 10,000 Afghanis will be granted permission to work, and those who do not pay this amount will have their stalls removed from the area.”
According to him, the mechanics, along with several tribal elders, went to the office of the Taliban governor, but they were told there that the governor’s office does not interfere in municipal affairs. These businesspeople say that bakeries, juice shops, beverage shops, vegetable vendors, and other small businesses operate in this area.
The stall owners say that in exerting pressure to collect the money again, the Taliban first put up warning notices on the stalls overnight, and two days later informed them that they had illegally set up and were operating stalls in this location.
According to them, those who had obtained work permits from the Taliban’s first district showed their permits to municipality members, but the officials did not accept these permits, saying that the district does not have the authority to issue permits for stalls along the road.
The businesspeople say the Taliban told them that the district does not have the right to issue such permits. They also claim they were told that if each stall owner pays 10,000 Afghanis to the municipality, they will be allowed to continue operating.
A source says: “In this situation, several people agreed to pay, but when they asked for a bank receipt, they were told that they had to pay the money in cash to a person who is a friend of the mayor, something no one was willing to accept. Now they have been given until Wednesday to either pay the money or have all their stalls transferred to the municipality. These very mechanics and street vendors are extremely worried and distressed.”
This comes as, before this, hundreds of residents of Mazar-e-Sharif had protested against the Taliban. The protesters, chanting “death to traitors,” had said that the Taliban had demolished shops in the Layalami market row.
The Taliban have repeatedly claimed to have eliminated administrative corruption and bribery within government institutions. However, citizens of the country, particularly those who deal with institutions under Taliban control, complain of widespread financial and administrative corruption within these institutions. They say members of the group are extensively involved in financial and administrative corruption, but due to limited access to information, fear of interrogation, and the consequences of disclosing information, various dimensions of this corruption have largely remained hidden.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
باجگیری طالبان در مزارشریف؛ غرفهداران: «یا پول بدهید یا غرفهها را جمع کنید»
