The Taliban have consistently detained and executed former military personnel and civilians in Afghanistan over the past three years. This report reveals that in the past month alone, the Taliban have arrested 200 individuals across 14 provinces. Along with severe torture and oppression, they executed eight people, including four former military personnel. Various sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that detainees suffered not only insults and humiliation but also torture. Due to strict media censorship and extensive restrictions imposed by the Taliban, these figures are based solely on data collected by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, and the actual number of detainees and fatalities may be higher.
Despite their promises of general amnesty, the Taliban have carried out widespread reprisals against former military personnel and civilians. Dozens of former military personnel report living in hiding, while unemployment and poverty threaten their lives. Civilians also face severe reprisals from the Taliban in various regions for multiple alleged offenses.
This report’s information is based on news published by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, collected from July 4 to July 28, and shows that in less than a month, 200 people have been arrested and taken to unknown locations. According to the report, 52 people in the province of Badghis have been arrested for opium cultivation, but no details have been released about their release. Additionally, 50 others were detained in the province of Herat for breaking the “Shul Pista (law for collecting pistachio)”.
Moreover, eight civilians in Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province were arrested for sharing information about the killing of a Shia cleric by the Taliban in this district, and dozens of other civilians were detained for various accusations, with their fates unknown.
Seven former military personnel and local government officials, including the former head of the Takhar Provincial Council, were arrested during this period. Sources reported that the former head of the Takhar Provincial Council was severely beaten in Taliban custody and has been transferred to the hospital three times, but his family members have not been allowed to visit him.
In Paktika province, sources claim that the Taliban have arrested at least 40 young men from the center and districts of this province after inspecting their mobile phones. These individuals were detained for having patriotic songs and photos of the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and taken to unknown locations.
The Taliban have also detained and imprisoned disabled individuals during this period. In Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh, sources reported that Mohammad Akram Hossainzada, the head of the National Support Institute for the Disabled in this province, was arrested by the Taliban.
Sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that Mr. Hussainzada disappeared 45 days ago, and his family lost contact with him. According to sources, his family discovered after six weeks of searching that he was in Taliban intelligence custody.
Hussainzada has a disability in his leg and has collaborated with disability rights organizations for over two decades. For the past three years, he has managed the National Support Institute for the Disabled and Martyrs’ Families in Balkh province.
The report’s findings indicate that individuals detained by the Taliban in this period come from Kabul, Takhar, Badakhshan, Nimruz, Uruzgan, Nangarhar, Khost, Badghis, Herat, Kunar, Paktika, Balkh, Panjshir, and Kandahar provinces. Those arrested include journalists, television program producers, former provincial council representatives, senior former government officials, and ordinary citizens.
During this period, the Taliban executed four former military personnel in Khost, Paktia, and Sar-e-Pol provinces, one of whom was a former bodyguard of Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, the first vice president of the previous government.
Additionally, a source shared a list of 34 former military personnel from Takhar province with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, showing that these individuals were arrested by the Taliban this year and taken to unknown locations.
Sources from Kandahar province reported that the stoned body of a woman was found in the Dand district of this province. In another case, a young girl in the Punjab district of Bamyan province committed suicide after being kidnapped and imprisoned by Taliban fighters.
Meanwhile, the “Afghan Women’s Historical Transformation Movement” issued a statement demanding the immediate release of Sayed Rahim Saeedi, a filmmaker, and Mohammad Anwar Panahi, a university professor, from Taliban custody. The statement claims these two individuals were imprisoned without any crime. The group expressed concern over the continued horrific situation, stating that Afghanistan has become a prison for its citizens.
Citizens of the country have expressed that they feel abandoned and unprotected, with no institution to defend their rights against Taliban abuses. They say that alongside poverty and hunger, they endure daily oppression and humiliation at the cost of their lives.
Khan Mohammad, a citizen, stated: “People are very defenseless and alone; everyone left and abandoned millions of people empty-handed and hungry under the sword of a terrorist group. What can people do? They have no choice but to endure suffering and humiliation. Those speaking from outside have not seen the situation in Afghanistan.”
This comes as credible human rights organizations report that the Taliban have repeatedly and extensively violated human rights in Afghanistan. Recently, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) published a 30-page report on widespread human rights violations by the Taliban. This report, released by UNAMA’s Human Rights section, titled “Moral Oversight in Afghanistan: Impacts on Human Rights,” states that the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has violated the privacy of women and men and committed 1,033 instances of arbitrary punishment. The report documented 205 cases of misconduct towards women and 818 cases of misconduct towards men.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
انتقامجویی طالبان؛ در ۲۶ روز ۲۰۰ تن بازداشت و ۸ تن تیرباران شدهاند | روزنامه ۸صبح
