In the past three days, Taliban forces have arrested at least 20 residents in the Ashtarlai district of Daikundi province after accusing them of having weapons and ammunition, says residents in the province.
A local source, who does not want to be named, tells Zan Times that the Taliban began detaining civilians in the district on Friday, December 9. He says that the Taliban commonly interrogate and even torture residents when looking for weaponry.
“The Taliban told detained people that their relatives had worked in the previous regime and fought against them [the Taliban], so they must have been given weapons and ammunition,” he explains. Usually, the Taliban will seize the weapons. If the families don’t have guns, sometimes they have no choice but to purchase weapons on the black market to hand over to the Taliban in an effort to get loved ones released from detention. Several local residents say that all the people who have been detained by the Taliban in the past few days are teachers, shopkeepers, and village elders from Ashtarlai district.
Another resident of the district, who also asked not to be identified, tells Zan Times that a Taliban brigade has been in Ashtarlai district for some time now, and that they are harassing locals and making arbitrary arrests.
“The Taliban has created a great terror among the people of the villages of Ashtarlai district, and everyone is worried about their lives and property,” says the resident.
Since the Taliban have regained power, they have constantly engaged in human abuses in Daikundi province, which is a majority Hazara province. In addition to displacing thousands of families, the Taliban have engaged in arbitrary arrests and there have been multiple reports of them killing civilians, including children. The Taliban have displaced thousands of families from their homes, have arbitrarily arrested people and massacred civilians and including children. In one recent incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, November 24, Taliban fighters stormed a village named Syuk Shibar in Daikundi province. By the time the Taliban left, they had killed eight villagers, including three children, and took another seven people with them.
