Mahsa Elham and Mahtab Safi
It’s becoming a horrifyingly familiar story heard again and again across Afghanistan. People are arrested and detained by the Taliban for weeks and months, only to never be seen alive again. Instead, family members suddenly get told where they can pick up the battered, tortured bodies of their loved ones or are informed that they died in prison. Some were buried by their Taliban captors. The individual details change, but the overall pattern appears to be too similar to be a coincidence, local sources tell Zan Times.
On Sunday, December 5, the family of Ahmad Khan Rasouli, a community elder in Ghor province, and his son, Sharafuddin Rasouli, got that dreaded notification. They went to the Elander area of Firozkoh, the provincial capital, to pick up the bodies of father and son. Their bodies showed obvious signs of torture. A resident, who asked not to be named, tells Zan Times that the two men were detained for two months, after which they were beheaded.
“The Taliban intelligence department called Ahmad Khan’s family to their office and informed them about the whereabouts of the bodies to be picked up,” the source explains. He also adds that the Taliban have warned Ahmad Khan’s extended family not to talk to the media with an ominous threat, “Otherwise we will make it worse for you.”
Another resident confirms the incident, telling Zan Times that the decapitated body of this community elder and his son were sent to the provincial hospital morgue on Monday, December 5. He says that signs of torture were apparent on the bodies of both victims.
The Taliban arrested this tribal elder from his house in Shiwij village near Firozkoh city on September 29, the source says. Though their family repeatedly went to the Taliban intelligence offices and the Taliban provincial governor’s office asking about their whereabouts, they could not get any information about the fate of this father and son. They even sent a letter to the office of the Taliban’s prime minister.
Though Ahmad Khan Rasouli pledged allegiance to the Taliban last year after they returned to power, the Taliban have not provided any reason for the arrest of father and son. The Taliban have not yet commented on their killings.
Something similar occurred in Jawzjan province, where residents say that the Taliban arrested a teacher in Darzab district six months ago. After having no information about Mohammad Yusouf Yaqoubi, his family is suddenly informed that he died five months ago while in custody and that his body was buried by the Taliban in Kabul.
Taliban intelligence arrested Mohammad Yusouf Yaqoubi and two other residents of Darzab district on June 7, a relative of the teacher tells Zan Times. While the other two residents were released a few days later, Yacoubi’s situation or whereabouts remained a mystery.
“In the past six months, Mohammad Yusouf’s family repeatedly visited various Taliban offices in Darzab district [elsewhere in] Jawzjan province and even in Kabul to inquire about his situation, but the Taliban did not give them a clear answer until finally, on Thursday, December 1, the Taliban in Sheberghan city called Yusouf’s father and tell him that his son’s case is closed and he should come to the court and take custody of his body,” the relation tells Zan Times.
“When Mohammad Yusouf’s father and family go to the Taliban court, they are told, ‘Let us recite Fatiha for Mohammad Yusouf because Mohammad Yusouf fell ill five months ago and when we took him to Kabul for treatment, he died and his body is buried in martyrs park in Kabul,’” he explains.
Another relative of Mohammad Yusouf confirmed what happened, saying that the Taliban have not shown his grave to his family. “When Muhammad Youssef’s brother asked to see his grave, they only gave him a phone number to call. But the number was inactive. When they turned to the Taliban again, the Taliban threatened them not to bother them with this issue anymore,” this relative tells Zan Times.
The Taliban haven’t explained why they picked up Mohammad Yusouf Yaqoubi but three sources tell Zan Times that the Taliban were trying to extort money money. According to those three sources in Jawzjan, he was a 37-year-old teacher who had worked at Abuzar Ghafari School in Darzab district for 15 years. In addition to teaching, he also worked as a money changer. The sources say the Taliban arrested and imprisoned him for no reason, instead demanding money in exchange for his release. One source says that it was a senior member of Taliban intelligence in Jawzjan who wanted the money. But when Muhammad Yusouf could not pay them, he stayed in detention.
“Mohammed Yusouf had nothing to do with anyone and the Taliban did it for money. He has a son and three daughters” a family member tells Zan Times.
Since the Taliban regained power, there have been many reports of the arrest, torture, and murder of civilians. In particular, although the Taliban announced a general amnesty upon their arrival in Kabul, they soon started killing security personnel of the previous regime. In a report released in July 2022, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded “at least 160 extrajudicial killings of former government and security officials by members of the de facto authorities” since the Taliban takeover.
UNAMA also reported on detentions by the General Directorate of Intelligence (also known as Istikhbarat), stating that it had details of instances “where the de facto Istikhbarat was involved in perpetrating human rights violations against individuals in their custody, including extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions.”
