The Taliban’s most significant claim, used to assert their authority over the people of Afghanistan and the international community, is the restoration of security—security that had eroded due to their own suicide attacks and violent activities. Their propaganda repeatedly emphasizes the spread of safety across the country, highlighting risk-free travel from one corner to another—something normal in other countries but lost in Afghanistan due to the Taliban’s actions, which turned life into a nightmare for the people. According to their official narrative, Afghanistan is now peaceful, with all citizens living in safety. This propaganda suggests that every Afghan citizen, regardless of ethnicity, beliefs, or orientation, faces no threats, implying that even if the Taliban have achieved nothing else, they deserve credit for this supposed accomplishment.
However, beyond this constructed image, reports from local sources and residents often shared discreetly and with fear, reveal that Afghanistan is far from safe. Expressing dissenting views on political, religious, or social matters—or engaging in activities perceived as opposing the Taliban, even if purely educational or cultural—can lead to arrest and the discovery of the individual’s lifeless body shortly afterward. A common feature of these arrests and disappearances is the complete disregard for legal procedures, with punishments delivered without trials or due process. Armed Taliban members operate with unchecked authority, detaining and punishing individuals they view as threats to their policies. This unregulated power has enabled Taliban members to exploit citizens, extorting money or seizing property under the guise of enforcing rules.
Arrests primarily target those suspected of collaborating with or being associated with anti-Taliban political or military groups, such as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), the Afghanistan United Front, and other factions advocating armed resistance. The Taliban do not require concrete evidence or confirmed membership in these groups; mere suspicion or an accusation suffices for arrest and torture. Yet, the issue extends beyond such cases.
Another group targeted includes individuals ideologically opposed to the Taliban, such as Salafi groups, which may not engage in political or military activities but are targeted due to their organized structures. The Taliban fear any form of organization and systematically dismantle all political and social structures to render the population defenseless and vulnerable. Consequently, they have actively disbanded all forms of organization within the country.
A significant number of arrests involve educational and cultural activists promoting education, especially for girls—an effort the Taliban view as a threat. Extensive restrictions on private universities, schools, educational courses, and other institutions aim to undermine non-governmental education and bring all educational systems under Taliban control. By doing so, they seek to indoctrinate the next generation according to their agenda, facilitating greater control over the population. Educational activists throughout the country remain consistent targets, with Taliban intelligence working to fabricate cases against them, ultimately limiting and shutting down their activities. Many citizens are currently imprisoned for these reasons.
The arrests also extend to university professors, mosque clerics, and public speakers. Taliban intelligence agents are stationed in mosques and educational centers, closely monitoring these groups. Anyone expressing views contrary to Taliban ideology or posting on social media in ways disapproved by the group faces interrogation and threats, often followed by severe punishment for non-compliance.
To suppress opposition and challenges, the Taliban have adopted two primary strategies. The first is to stifle dissent and create an atmosphere of suffocation, forcing political and social activists to leave the country. The massive wave of migration following the fall of the Republic, which displaced millions, was partly a deliberate Taliban policy aimed at depopulating the country of potential civil resistance. This enabled demographic, sociological, and ideological engineering. The second strategy involves arresting, torturing, and ultimately killing those who remain in the country but resist Taliban policies. To minimize the costs of such actions, the Taliban ensure that domestic and international audiences remain unaware. Independent media are censored and prohibited from reporting or investigating these incidents.
The absence of active organizations documenting arrests, torture, and killings, combined with the ban on such activities, has resulted in thousands of Afghans being detained and tortured over the past few years without public awareness. Even more troubling is the frequent discovery of lifeless bodies in various locations, such as cities, water reservoirs, and rivers, while many individuals remain missing without a trace.
The Taliban’s most effective pretext for these actions is their so-called fight against ISIS. They often exaggerate ISIS activities, and without credible evidence, many Taliban opponents are arrested, punished, or killed under this justification. The ongoing cycle of killings and repression in Afghanistan continues, albeit in different forms.
You can read the Persian version of this editorial here:
