Several residents from the northern and northeastern provinces of Afghanistan have reported an increase in the forced recruitment and deployment of fighters to the Taliban front lines. Local sources say that the Taliban, in addition to using force, are also attempting to recruit young men for the war against Pakistan by offering money. According to these sources, the Taliban are sending their own fighters and young men from these provinces to the front lines without the consent of their families. The sources emphasize that in recent days, young men from various areas in the north of the country have been dispatched to the Pakistani border to fight against that country’s army.
Bashir (pseudonym), a resident of Takhar Province, says there is no distinction between Taliban members and ordinary civilians in the recruitment process, and that both groups are transferred to Kabul through local Taliban officials in the province, either by force or through financial incentives, and are then sent from there to fight Pakistani forces along the Durand Line. He adds, “The recruitment and deployment of young men is real. I myself heard and witnessed how the Taliban transfer both their own fighters and ordinary civilians to Kabul with offers of money, and then send them from there to fight against Pakistan.”
This Takhar resident says the Taliban are also forcibly rounding up their own fighters and transferring them from various areas. According to Bashir, some young men are encouraged and recruited through promises of money, a large portion of whom are Uzbeks. He adds, “The Taliban are sending their own people to fight against Pakistan by force and in tears. They are gathering large numbers of people from all areas and dispatching them to the front lines, and most of them are Uzbeks.”
Another source also says the Taliban are sending some individuals to the front lines against Pakistan without the consent of their families, and that families are seeing them off with worry and tears. The source adds: “The Taliban are forcibly sending their fighters to war, and their parents are not willing. Families cry and wail as they watch them leave. Just recently, I witnessed one such incident where a mother stood behind her son, whom the Taliban had sent to war, with tears in her eyes, unwilling for her son to go to this war.”
Elham (pseudonym), from Sar-e Pol Province, also says that 11 people from their village have been sent to the front lines and that concerns about the deployment of more individuals continue to grow. She says: “The Taliban sent 11 people from our village to the war, and it is said that they are heading to the border to fight against Pakistan. There are also rumors that more people from the village may be sent to this war.”
These residents of northern Afghanistan warn that the continuation of this trend could create wider anxiety among families.
This comes as the Taliban, during the course of the war with Pakistan, have broadly restricted access to information from war zones and areas that have been bombed, while simultaneously spreading fake news and conducting extensive propaganda in an effort to manage public opinion in their favor and against Pakistan.
The group has also organized anti-Pakistan protests in various locations across the northern provinces of Afghanistan; however, only a limited number of residents have participated in these protests, indicating the public’s lack of willingness to fight alongside the Taliban.
The Taliban announced yesterday that 110 civilians had been killed and 123 others wounded as a result of Pakistani strikes, and warned that if these attacks continue, the Pakistani embassy in Kabul will be closed.
Ataullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has announced that in Operation “Ghazab ul-Haq,” up to Tuesday, March 3, 464 Taliban members had been killed and more than 665 others wounded.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
جنگ طالبان و پاکستان؛ جوانان بدون رضایت خانوادهها با زور و پول به جنگ فرستاده میشوند
