RASC News Agency: Residents of Bamiyan province have voiced growing alarm over a dramatic rise in nighttime armed robberies, warning that the once-secure streets of this central highland region have descended into fear and lawlessness. Locals say that after sunset, armed thieves lie in wait in residential alleys, turning nightly routines into a gamble with danger. According to multiple local sources, at least ten homes have been burglarized in various parts of Bamiyan in less than a week. The most recent incident reportedly occurred in the Seyyedabad area, where multiple houses were targeted simultaneously by armed assailants.
Despite repeated pleas to Taliban officials, residents claim that no meaningful intervention has been made. Instead, they accuse the Taliban’s provincial police command of either turning a blind eye to the crisis or actively enabling it. “The Taliban do nothing,” said one resident, whose home was recently looted. “They either watch from the sidelines or, worse, cooperate with the very criminals terrorizing our neighborhoods.” This growing perception of Taliban complicity and incompetence has eroded what little trust remains in the group’s capacity or willingness to provide security. Local citizens link the spike in crime to a toxic mix of deepening poverty, rampant unemployment, and corruption within Taliban security structures.
There are even credible allegations that some Taliban fighters themselves are participating in or facilitating these crimes, raising the specter of state-criminal collusion. Residents have also expressed outrage over reports that detained suspects are routinely released without due process or punishment, further emboldening criminal networks and shattering public confidence in the Taliban’s judicial apparatus. “This is no longer just about crime it’s about the collapse of accountability and law,” said a former provincial official now living in exile. “The Taliban are not a force for stability. They are, at best, inept custodians of public safety, and at worst, silent partners in the lawlessness unfolding in Bamiyan.”
As armed robberies become more brazen and frequent, civil society activists are calling on the international community and human rights monitors to document and expose Taliban negligence, warning that the current trajectory will further plunge the region into insecurity and despair.
