RASC News Agency: Local sources in Badakhshan report that the Taliban municipality in Faizabad, the provincial capital, has forcefully dismantled street vendors’ stalls, employing “coercion and misconduct,” and relocated them to an undisclosed location. On Sunday, October 6, sources confirmed that Taliban authorities in Faizabad removed approximately 350 stalls from the city and transferred them without notifying the owners of the new location.
These stalls, situated in the city’s first and second districts, had initially been sold to the vendors by the Taliban municipality two years prior. According to these sources, the municipality had previously charged each vendor 20,000 kabuli rupees per stall. Despite these payments, local Taliban officials in Badakhshan have not commented on the recent removal. Since the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan, street vendors across various provinces have voiced their grievances over the stringent and arbitrary laws imposed by the regime.
The conflict between the Taliban’s municipal authorities and street vendors has persisted for nearly three years. In this time, the Taliban have demonstrated little interest in alleviating the people’s hardships, choosing instead to increase pressure on the population. Two years ago, the Taliban had sold the stalls to vendors at exorbitant prices, charging additional monthly rental fees. Now, they have forcibly dismantled the stalls, and when vendors question the legal grounds for such actions, Taliban officials reportedly respond: “We are the law, and what we command must be done without justification.”
