RASC News Agency: Local sources in Panjshir have reported the detention of a schoolteacher and two other individuals by the Taliban. The sources confirm that Taliban fighters apprehended these individuals on Sunday, November 17, in the Abdullah Khil Valley and transferred them to an undisclosed location. Among the detainees is Abdul Wahid Akif, a poet and teacher at “Khwaja Khil” School in Darah district. The other two arrested individuals have been identified as Khwaja Mir, a university student, and Mujib, the head of “Rizakhil” village in the Abdullah Khil Valley.
The Taliban authorities in Panjshir have yet to release a statement regarding these arrests. Recently, the Taliban have escalated their campaign of detaining Panjshir residents, frequently accusing them of collaborating with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF). However, local residents have vehemently denied these claims, asserting that the Taliban’s actions in the province are motivated by longstanding ethnic and regional prejudices.
Notably, thousands of Taliban fighters from southern Pashtun regions many of whom are believed to harbor deep historical, linguistic, and ethnic resentments against the people of Panjshir are currently stationed in the province. Over the past three years, these forces have allegedly executed thousands of Panjshiris under various pretexts. Despite the gravity of these allegations, no independent investigations have been conducted into these killings.
In one chilling instance, a Panjshiri family seeking answers about the killing of two of its members was told by a Taliban official: “They were not unjustly killed. Are they not from Panjshir? That alone is justification for their deaths.” Such statements reveal the deep-rooted bias and systemic targeting faced by the residents of Panjshir under Taliban rule.
