The Taliban have established a “Permanent Housing and Land Distribution Committee for Kunduz Migrants” in the northeastern province of Kunduz. This committee is tasked with distributing land to Taliban fighters and their families residing in Pakistan. A letter from this committee, obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, reveals that the Taliban have called on all individuals who returned to Kunduz from neighboring countries following their takeover to report to the Urban Development Directorate under Taliban control to receive land.
Simultaneously, sources in Kunduz say the Taliban are pursuing a policy of ethnic resettlement and altering the demographic composition of the province. According to these sources, over the past three years, the group has resettled hundreds of families from Pakistan’s tribal areas, particularly members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in various parts of Kunduz and distributed land to them. The sources claim this public call is merely a façade, while in practice, the Taliban are executing a strategic relocation plan to serve their specific objectives.
Despite widespread public criticism over ethnic resettlements and demographic manipulation, the Taliban have continued their efforts unabated over the past three and a half years. Many residents of northern Afghan provinces have expressed concern over the influx of migrants and their settlement in these regions, noting that a significant number of individuals from Pakistan’s tribal areas have been relocated to the Kunduz and Takhar provinces. Locals assert that the Taliban have never responded to these grievances and have persisted in their resettlement policies.
A letter signed by Mohammad Ramazan Kalim, head of the Permanent Housing and Land Distribution Committee for Kunduz Migrants, instructs all individuals holding migration cards who returned to Kunduz after the Taliban’s takeover to visit the Taliban-controlled Urban Development Directorate to receive land.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, states that all migrants who returned from neighboring countries to Kunduz and possess official migration documents must complete the paperwork for land distribution by April 7, 2025.
A source who shared the letter with the Hasht-e Subh Daily said: “If you’re a returnee from Pakistan, bring your migration card and get your land.”
Meanwhile, other sources suggest this Taliban initiative is merely a cover for relocating families affiliated with the group. According to them, the Taliban’s primary goal is to alter the demographic makeup by allocating land to families associated with TTP, to whom the Taliban themselves issued migration cards. The sources emphasize that the Taliban are actively trying to distribute fertile lands and key areas to their affiliates, most of whom belong to the Pashtun ethnic group, to secure long-term influence in the province.
A Kunduz resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that the current land distribution policy continues the former governments’ strategy of “fostering settlers.” He noted that the Taliban are subtly and systematically working to change the overall demographic structure of the province by allocating more land to their loyalists. He added that now, with the distribution of land to Pakistanis underway, the process is ongoing. He stressed that people currently have no voice, and anyone who opposes or criticizes the policy is eliminated by the Taliban.
This Kunduz resident said: “If the Taliban didn’t already influence Kunduz, the Republic wouldn’t have fallen. Many people who appeared to support the previous government were secretly collaborating with the Taliban at night. The Taliban are now more strategic than before—they are investing in their future. Meanwhile, the original residents of Kunduz are becoming increasingly marginalized, and their properties are being seized.”
Sources have previously reported that the Taliban are attempting to allocate an area known as “Kasani,” located in central Kunduz City, to their affiliates and forcibly relocate families of Tajik and Uzbek ethnicities from the area.
Additionally, videos surfaced recently on social media showing groups of individuals clashing over land in Kunduz. At the time, sources reported that Pashtuns and Uzbeks had engaged in physical altercations after verbal disputes. According to these sources, the Taliban had sided with the Pashtuns.
Earlier, residents of districts beyond the Kokcha River told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that around 700 Kochi families had been resettled within just one year in the Khwaja Bahauddin and Dasht-e Qala districts of Takhar province. These Kochis, who reportedly came from Pakistan, were settled with Taliban support in the villages of Laleh Gozar, Katakjar, Baharistan, and Mughul Qishlaq in the Khwaja Bahauddin district, as well as Alang, Tajik Qishlaq, and Arab Kakul in the Dasht-e Qala district.
These concerns come as the Hasht-e Subh Daily previously revealed in an investigative report that the Taliban have constructed four settlements for al-Qaeda and TTP members in Ghazni province. According to that report, a fortified base with residential housing was built for al-Qaeda in the Malekuddin area of the Nawah district, while three other settlements were constructed for TTP in Dasht-e Bagh-e Attar of the Qarabagh district, Dasht-e Kabuli in the Waghaz district, and Kotal-e Rawza on the outskirts of Ghazni city. These settlements reportedly include large religious schools and well-equipped dormitories in addition to residential houses.
Most recently, sources in Ghazni confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that families of TTP members have now been resettled in these areas. The sources noted that these settlements are under tight security, and no one is allowed near them without specific authorization from the Taliban.
Over the past three and a half years, despite media outcry regarding ethnic resettlements and forced displacements, the Taliban have remained silent. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, reported that nearly 1,000 families were forcibly displaced from Daykundi province. According to his report, in September 2021, the Taliban forcibly evicted approximately 2,800 Hazara residents from 15 villages across the Daykundi and Uruzgan provinces.
Previously, residents of the “Sanatorium” area in Kabul’s sixth district told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that their homes were confiscated by the Taliban, who then resettled their members in the properties. According to these residents, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice used a show court to formalize the property seizures.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
غصب زمین و جابهجاییهای قومی؛ فراخوان طالبان برای توزیع زمین در کندز | روزنامه ۸صبح
