After taking over Afghanistan in August last year, the Taliban became the country’s sole ruling force in terms of political and social power. As a result, they began to do things that had previously only occurred in their imaginations. The commanders of this group have chosen beautiful young women and girls for marriage under the guise of carrying on the Prophet of Islam’s tradition. Those commanders who previously had one or two wives have now chosen a third or fourth wife.
Elaha Delawarzai, a young woman, made her first public admission in August of this year that a senior Taliban official had raped her and forced her into marriage. By posting numerous videotapes on social media, this young girl expressed her complaints about the assault, rape, and forced marriage she experienced with Saeed Khosti, the former spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior. Mrs. Delawarzai claimed that this Taliban officer had repeatedly tortured her and that she now lives with him as a prisoner.
Saeed Khosti is a close associate of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network and the Taliban’s Minister of Interior. He previously worked as the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior Affairs’ spokesperson but was later dismissed from that position. Saeed Khosti confirmed his marriage to Elaha Delawarzai but stated that he did not abuse her. Citizens were concerned about polygamy and forced marriages of Taliban militants who had just entered cities from the battlefields and were interested in underage marriage after the publication of videotapes by Elaha Delawarzai. Citizens are still concerned about this.
Several sources were interviewed for this report about the marriages of several Taliban officials after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. The name of Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman and one of the group’s media masterminds is at the top of this list of multiple marriages. According to a reliable source, the Taliban spokesman has chosen a second wife nearly six months after the group took control of the country. It is unclear how old Zabiullah Mujahid’s second wife is, but sources say she is a resident of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan Province.
Another Taliban member is a prominent figure who was recently unseated by the Taliban. Abdul Hamid Khorasani was appointed Taliban security chief for Panjshir province after the Taliban took power. However, he later complained about the Taliban’s leadership and was eventually removed from his position. The former Taliban security chief for the province of Panjshir has recently settled down with his fourth bride. According to a trustworthy source, Abdul Hamid Khorasani’s fourth wife was born in the province of Lugar but now resides in Switzerland. According to the source, these two met on social media and eventually married. This woman returned to Switzerland after her marriage. According to another source, this marriage was so quiet that even Mr. Khorasani’s closest friends believe his fourth wife is the same as his third wife.
Commander Mustafa, one of the Taliban commanders for Panjshir province and a close companion of Maulvi Qadratullah Amini, the former governor of this province, also planned to join the caravan and forcefully marry a woman from this province’s Dara district but failed due to opposition from her relatives and friends.
Not only is there the issue of second and third marriages, but the Taliban’s rise to power and wealth has caused a number of its officials to lavish lavishly fund their marriages. Sayed Mohammad Hanif Ebada, the Taliban’s deputy governor for Ghazni province, married a 20-year-old girl from this province’s Gerow district about seven months ago. In exchange for one million Afghanis, this girl agreed to marry the Taliban’s deputy governor and become his third wife. According to a reliable source, this girl’s brother worked in the office of the Taliban’s deputy governor, and thus a kinship relationship was established between them.
Nasir Ahmad Tawakoli, the head of the Breshna Company for the Ghazni region. He is another Taliban official who married for the second time at a high cost. Mr. Tawakoli married a young girl for two million and 700 thousand Afghanis three months ago, according to reliable sources in this province. These reliable sources claim, Mr. Tawakoli was able to gain the approval of this girl and her father for marriage in exchange for this large sum of money.
Before the Taliban came to power, Maulvi Ghulam Nabi lived as an ordinary person in Herat province, earning a living by collecting charity from people. After the fall of the republic regime, the Taliban appointed him as Governor of this province’s Guzara district. According to sources, Maulvi Ghulam Nabi had a wife and several children before the fall of Afghanistan, and after being appointed governor of the Guzara district, he married a young girl at a hefty price. Although her exact age is unknown, sources claim he is much older than her new wife. Maulvi Ghulam Nabi’s marriage dowry was one million Afghanis and the cost of his wedding ceremony was also exorbitant. This Taliban official is now the district governor of the Karkh district of Herat province, and sources say that he has now become a groom for the third time.
The marriage of a Taliban official with a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman is the most intriguing of these cases. Shamsuddin, also known as Homayoun, the district governor of the district of Darqad of Takhar province, married a widow and a young girl in two weeks. According to sources, Shamsuddin’s older wife, Goljohar, was previously married to another man, but Shamsuddin forced the couple to divorce before marrying Goljohar.
In another case, a 20-year-old girl and an employee of one of the country’s media claims that one of the Taliban commanders proposed to her and tortured and beat her father because he was not accepting this marriage. This young girl’s story is currently popular on social media. According to the narrator, this Taliban commander is over 50 years old, married, and heads one of the Taliban’s government departments.
Although the sources do not have accurate information about the ages of Taliban officials and their wives, they say that, except for the security chief of Panjshir province, Taliban officials were older than married women and girls in every case.
Previously, the Taliban leader emphasized in a decree the importance of adult girls’ consent during marriage and the prevention of excessive expenses in wedding ceremonies, but these reports indicate that the order of the Taliban leader is not being followed as strictly by the individuals and commanders of this group.
On July 3, this year, Bahram Haqqani, Taliban commander and head of the Khost airfield in eastern Afghanistan, transferred his new wife, who had paid 1,200,000 Afghanis for her dowry, via military helicopter from Shah Mazar village in Lugar province to Khost province. According to the videotape, the helicopter landed in the farm fields of Shah Mazar village to pick up the bride of the Taliban commander. Some speculated at the time that the helicopter transported the Taliban commander’s new wife, who had recently married, from Khost province to her father’s home in Lugar province.
All of this is happening while power and wealth have caused many families to form relationships with Taliban members out of insecurity and fear. In August of this year, several female activists claimed in a protest movement that the Taliban was forcing families in Panjshir province to marry off their young daughters to Taliban soldiers and commanders. These women requested that the United Nations and other international organizations that assist women put an end to the Taliban group’s soldiers and commanders’ arbitrary decisions; however, they have not yet received a positive response.
Amnesty International stated in its most recent report on the situation of women in Afghanistan during one year of Taliban rule that women’s lives have been “traumatized” during this time. According to Nicolette Waldman, an Amnesty International researcher, the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan have been destroyed in the last year, and they face systematic discrimination. Waldman also stated that women in Afghanistan do not have the right to live in safety, freedom, and satisfaction and that their lives are “truly horrible”. “We have heard cases that indicate an alarming situation,” says this Amnesty International researcher. She stated that the number of forced marriages and child marriages has increased under Taliban rule compared to previous regimes.
