By Mahtab Safi
For the last 20 days, the Taliban in Sheberghan city have ordered local residents to organize and staff a night watch, warning them that anyone who violates the order would be jailed, local sources tell Zan Times.
These sources in Jawzjan province say that the Taliban have made mullahs of local mosques responsible for implementing the plans. Those imams have to establish schedules, by which two local residents guard a prescribed area –including three alleys, which include up to 100 houses – from evening to morning without pay. People who cannot stand guard on their assigned shift are to be fined 200 afghanis a night.
“The Taliban give a stick and a torch to those who keep watch at night, and they emphasize that they must stay awake all night and beat those who are out at night,” Faizullah*, a resident of Sheberghan city, tells Zan Times.
Faizullah labelled the new scheme as Taliban “oppression” on the people, saying, “We poor people are busy with our work from morning to evening. Now the Taliban want us to guard at night and if we are not willing to carry out this action, we have to pay 200 afghanis a night or endure the beating of the Taliban.”
Residents of three areas of Sheberghan confirm that the Taliban have warned them that any crime – including burglaries – will be the responsibility of the guards on duty that night and they should be ready to be punished and pay damages. According to sources in the city, Taliban have already accused several residents of negligence during their night watches and beat them.
The Taliban also apply this order to people with physical disabilities. Navid*, a teen resident of the city, says that when it’s his disabled father’s turn to stand watch, Navid takes over the duties. “I have to guard the alley and walk all night when it’s my father’s turn because we don’t have the ability to pay 200 afghanis. My father already finds it difficult to pay for the household expenses. I also take the sheep to graze half the day and study at school half the day, and I have to stay up until the morning on my shifts,” he says.
Residents of Jawzjan have criticized this latest edict from the Taliban, saying that security is the responsibility of the government and should not be placed on the shoulders of the people. In particular, they complain that the Taliban are imposing huge tax increases on businesses and residents, in part claiming that it’s needed to provide security and services.
The Taliban are demanding money or services from seemingly everyone. Recently, cart vendors in Kabul have been forced to pay protection money to Taliban militants while the Taliban in Ghor demanded 100,000 afghanis in taxes from every narcotics factory in the district of Ghor. It’s not just business owners who are being handed big tax bills by the Taliban. Recently, the Taliban imposed a compulsory communal tax of 30,000 to 100,000 afghanis on the villages of Lal-o-Sarjangal district of Ghor province.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
