Extortion from Kabul Street venders: Pay protection money to the Taliban or else
By N. Ahmed
Javad supports his family of five by selling vegetables out of his four-wheel cart from morning to evening in Kote Sangi to make a living for his family of five. Now, the Kabul street vendor has to deal with yet another expense. Every day, the Taliban demand he pays protection money. “All my capital does not exceed 2,000 to 3,000 afghanis. Despite this, I have to pay 50 afghanis daily to the Taliban gunmen, otherwise they will harass us a lot,” he explains to Zan Times.
On average, Javad has earned about 200 afghanis a day in the past two years. However, that income is not enough to sustain a family of five in Kabul’s expensive markets. “There is work one day, and nothing the next,” he explains. “But I must feed my family every night.”
In Kabul’s busy Murad Khani area, hawkers sell their wares from morning to night.
During a conversation with Zan Times, Ibrahim. another cart owner, also talks of having to pay off the Taliban. “Two gunmen had taken money from us two days ago,” he says. “In the evening, more came to take money but when we told them the others had taken the cash in the morning, one got angry and overturned our things. He hit me twice with the gun butt on my back, and then left.”
“We have been extorted during every era,” he says. When the previous government was in power, he says that “we used to pay the police 20 afghanis daily. In the early months of the Taliban’s arrival, there was no extortion. We were relieved, but two months later, it began again. Currently, they receive 50-80 afghanis per cart.”
Ali is another vendor. He provides for a family of eight with his wheelbarrow in Golayi-Dawa-Khana. “Some time ago, I bought bread and a soft drink for a Talib so that he wouldn’t bother me anymore. Since then, he comes every day and forces me to buy him bread and a soft drink,” he explains to Zan Times.
“I refused to buy bread for Taliban gunmen a few days ago because I had no money,” he says. “They took me to the police station. I was interrogated for two days on suspicion of fighting with the Taliban. Eventually, I was released on the guarantee of a shopkeeper,” he adds.
Ali knows what could happen if he doesn’t pay off the Taliban. “Two months ago, the Taliban arrested a peddler in Kote Sangi for not giving money to its gunmen,” he recounts. “He is still in jail. That’s why everyone is afraid and pays the money.”
Sometimes the payments are food taken by force from their carts. Mohammad Nawab, a street food seller in Deh Afghanan in Kabul says that “Two Talibs come every day, eat five to six bolani, and don’t pay. Once I asked for money but they told me, ‘We take money from all the carts. Be happy that we only eat your bolani.’”
“Where is the law?” complains Nawab. “Who should we complain to? Nobody hears us. Every day, I sell 50 to 70 bolanis. Sometimes the money I earn is not even enough to buy bread. With these high prices, Taliban extortion is very expensive for poor men.”
Businessmen and shopkeepers also complain that the city also demands a variety of taxes. So, along with shop rent, electricity, and water bills, they also have to pay board tax, cleaning fees, general tax, and income tax, often without receiving services in return.
Nematullah Barakzai, the spokesperson for the Kabul Municipality, responds to such complaints by telling Zan Times, “The traffic officers and police stations have no authority to collect money from peddlers.” He add, “Kabul Municipality charges each cart 1,750 afghanis per square metre in a congested area, 900 Afghanis in a semi-crowded area, and 330 Afghanis in a less congested place.”
Some cart owners, who cannot afford to pay bribes or protection money to the Taliban, have been forced out of the industry. Mohammad Ayvaz, a resident of Khair Khana in Kabul, used to own a cart. “For two years, I sold fresh fruit. But the municipality impounded my cart and fined me 3,000 afghanis because I didn’t pay the Taliban daily. I can’t afford to pay the fine. My cart is currently impounded,” he tells Zan Times. Now he tries to make a living as a day worker.
All names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
