In the central province of Daikundi, the Taliban police said on Thursday that a man who was arrested on a charge of “rebellion” committed suicide in their custody.
Ghulam Ali Javid, a Taliban spokesman in the province, said the man was arrested on Tuesday from Naw Mesh district.
“After he was sent to Naw Mesh prison, he pretended to be sick. When he was taken to the clinic in the prison, he hanged himself using an IV tube,” Javid said in a phone interview, without giving further information on the victim’s identity or details of the allegation.
A resident of Naw Mesh, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was a local commander with connections to the previous government. The Taliban ambushed his house in Nai Qala area of Naw Mesh district, according to the source.
In January, a United Nations report found credible reports that more than 100 former government employees, security forces, and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over the country in August.
In April, a New York Times investigative report revealed that close to 500 former government officials and security forces were killed or forcibly disappeared during the Taliban’s first six months in power.
