Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education and a close ally of Hibatullah Akhundzada, has repeatedly called for the killing and revenge against the country’s citizens through fatwas. Most recently, he labeled social media users as “apostates,” asserting that all infidels worldwide have gathered on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to support infidels in Pashto. This statement has sparked increased concern among citizens, who fear that the Taliban will use accusations of apostasy to arrest and execute their opponents. Reports from international human rights organizations indicate that over the past three years, the Taliban have engaged in widespread acts of revenge and repression against the population.
In video clips shared on social media, Neda Mohammad Nadeem reiterated his calls for the killing of citizens, stating, “If you look at Twitter [X] and Facebook, all the apostates of the world are there.” He claimed that an intellectual opposition to the Taliban has emerged, with social media users engaging in ideological battles against the group’s forces, whom he referred to as mujahideen.
This Taliban official lamented that social media users’ “language and writing are in Pashto, but their news is from infidelity. Do not pay attention to or trust their tweets, writings, and statements.” He told the Taliban that the media are increasingly focusing on intellectual struggles against them. According to him, social media users “show no respect for religious scholars, do not recognize the honor of the mujahid [Taliban fighters], and do not respect Islam and the Quran.”
In his speech, the Taliban Minister of Higher Education stated: “Social media users say things that are in Pashto. Some claim that Islam is incomplete. Some curse religious scholars and their knowledge.” He asserted that, according to the judgments of religious scholars, those who question “religious scholars and men of God” are apostates. According to him, this is done by Jews to make people depart from Islam so that Muslims become suspicious of their religious leaders and faith.
The Taliban official had previously banned questions regarding the reopening of schools and universities for girls. He has repeatedly declared opponents of the Taliban to be deserving of death and issued fatwas for their execution. According to him, those who oppose the group’s regime should be killed by the Taliban.
However, some citizens have expressed concerns that the group’s revenge will become more severe following this senior Taliban official’s fatwa. They believe that such fatwas will give the group’s fighters an opportunity for greater vengeance and brutal behavior, leading to more killings and the establishment of extrajudicial tribunals.
Jamshid (pseudonym), a social media user, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban have consistently killed, arrested, and tortured their opponents and critics under various pretexts over the past three years. According to him, labeling social media users as apostates will further enable the Taliban’s vengeance against citizens, leading to widespread killings, humiliation, insults, and detentions.
Laila, another user who criticizes Taliban policies on Facebook and X, said that due to the widespread human rights violations and misogynistic policies of the Taliban, she has repeatedly criticized the group on social media. She believes that labeling social media users as “apostates” will provide the group’s fighters and others with more opportunities for revenge and abuse. She stated: “With this pretext, the Taliban are now ready to arrest and kill anyone they dislike on charges of being on Facebook and engaging in ideological battles.”
Concerns among citizens have intensified as the Taliban have failed to adhere to their pledge of general amnesty. Recently, a student from Shiraz University in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who had traveled to Ghor province to visit his family, was killed by the Taliban. Sources in Ghor told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that Kamaluddin Nazemi, a student from Shiraz University, was detained by Taliban intelligence, tortured for four days, and then killed.
In their ongoing revenge against former military personnel, the Taliban recently executed Hussain, a former commando from the previous government’s army, in the village of Ganj Ali Beg, in the Taloqan district of Takhar province, while he was returning from his farm. Sources reported that he had been detained and released three times before by two Taliban members with the intervention of local people.
Continuing their revenge against former military personnel and citizens, the Taliban have recently killed at least 64 former military personnel, including five army commanders, in Paktika province. According to sources, in addition to the killings of former security forces, many have been disappeared and tortured. Relatives of the victims said that the Taliban have attributed most of these killings to unknown armed individuals, despite their claims of ensuring nationwide security and disarmament.
Before the Taliban Minister of Higher Education labeled social media users as “apostates,” the Taliban’s Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had also issued a fatwa for the repression of all citizens, declaring adherence to the Taliban regime as mandatory for all people.
The Taliban’s Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice claimed that their regime is “unique and ideal” in the world, and following it is obligatory for all citizens. He compared the Taliban regime favorably with the Ottoman Caliphate and warned that anyone opposing this regime would be considered a “rebel” and would face severe repression.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have recently enforced their “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law,” which restricts women’s voices and labels it as “Awrah”, and imposes other onerous restrictions on both men and women in the country. This “new law” has elicited widespread domestic and international reactions. Most recently, 12 members of the United Nations Security Council have demanded the immediate repeal of this Taliban law. They expressed concern over the continued gender discrimination and repression of women and girls by the Taliban. Their statement reads: “Today, we once again urge the Taliban to immediately repeal all policies and actions that violate the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls.”
It should be noted that previously, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and senior UN experts, including Richard Bennett, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, have published multiple reports on the widespread human rights violations by the Taliban. Additionally, the Afghan Embassy and Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, presented a national report on the human rights situation in the country at the UN Human Rights Council, which stated that the Taliban have committed crimes against humanity.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
مرتد خواندن کاربران شبکههای اجتماعی؛ طالبان بار دیگر فتوای کشتار صادر کردند | روزنامه ۸صبح
