By Matin Mehrab
Last week, the Taliban started searching for weapons house-to-house in some northern provinces, including Balkh and Jawzjan provinces.
Faraidun, a Taliban provincial spokesman for Jawzjan said that the operation is already underway in the provincial capital of Sheberghan city and that Taliban leaders have mobilized 1,200 for the effort.
“The search in Sheberghan city is conducted under the supervision of the director of intelligence and the brigade commander of the National Army, and it is planned that, after the completion of house searches in the provincial capital, house searches would begin in the districts,” he adds.
So far, the operation has been completed in the villages of Paya Ali, Yaka Bagh, and Mirwais Mina in the northern part of Sheberghan city and is continuing in other areas of the city, according to the spokesman.
Mohammad Hashim, a Paya Ali resident, said that the Taliban began the house searches in his village at five in the morning last Thursday.
He also said that the Taliban searched people’s houses in their area a few months ago, but that this time the number of Taliban gunmen conducting the searches has increased.
Referring to the people’s dissatisfaction with the situation, he said, “This practice has made the people angry but there is no one who can raise their voice about this.”
Sakhidad, a Yaka Bagh resident, also told Zan Times that the Taliban finished house searches in his village.
He added that the Taliban didn’t find anything in the homes: “I did not witness anything being found in anyone’s house in the village. The people who had weapons have all fled or have surrendered to the Taliban.”
In Balkh province, Taliban police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri said that the purpose of these searches is to fight IS-K and collect weapons belonging to the armed forces of the previous government.
The residents of Balkh province also say that the Taliban enter their houses against their own policies. Maryam, a resident of the 10th police district of Mazar-e-Sharif, told Zan Times that the Taliban gunmen entered her house without her permission when she was alone at home. “The Taliban gunmen entered our house without the presence of a policewoman and the community elders. I said [this is against their policy], but they did not pay attention.”
Also, during the house searches, the Taliban have arrested some security personnel and employees of the former government.
Mohammad, a resident of Mazar-e-Sharif, who is a former soldier, also says that the Taliban entered his house without the presence of a policewoman and community elders, and during the search, they demanded a weapon from him and arrested him even though he had handed over his weapon to the Taliban when they took over Mazar-e-Sharif.
“I told them that I have small children, I am busy driving a taxi from dawn till dusk,” Mohammad explained, saying that the Taliban beat him up and threw him into the back of a pickup truck. He was arrested even though the Taliban have announced a general amnesty, according to which, all members of the security forces and employees of the previous government are “forgiven.” He did not share more details about his ordeal but said that he was released for the time being because of guarantees from community elders and his mosque’s imam.
Lately, in response to increased attacks on their forces, the Taliban have undertaken more house searches in the largely non-Pashtun provinces of central and northern Afghanistan.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
