RASC News Agency: According to a report by Jamhur News-Bamyan, following the surrender of Bamyan to the Taliban, members of the group looted the vehicles and possessions of the people. The report states: “On August 14, 2022, at 10 a.m., Bamyan was handed over to the Taliban. The Taliban members immediately began looting public assets upon entering Bamyan. After ransacking government offices, they turned their attention to private property. This situation persisted for 15 days, during which the Taliban not only pillaged public assets but also extorted and stole hundreds of private vehicles from the citizens of Bamyan. Even the Bamyan Museum was looted.”
Jamhur News-Bamyan further notes that upon entering Bamyan city, the Taliban began stealing and seizing people’s vehicles. The report names several key Taliban figures who were the first to enter Bamyan: Mullah Anas Azizi, the so-called governor; Mullah Sediqullah Shahin Musafir, the police chief; Mullah Maqbool Ahmad Waqas, the head of the Department of Virtue Promotion; Qari Musa Nasrat, the military commander; and Mullah Mahdi Mujahid, the intelligence chief. Following their arrival, the belongings and vehicles of the people began to disappear.
The report further adds: “On November 4 of the same year, after the Taliban’s oppression and extortion of the Hazara people exceeded all limits, a confrontation occurred between Mullah Mahdi, a Hazara-Taliban member, and Mullah Maqbool Ahmad Waqas, resulting in three injuries. Two days later, on November 6, Mullah Anas Azizi was dismissed due to his inability to manage the situation, and Mullah Abdullah Sarhadi was appointed as the governor of Bamyan on November 7, 2022.”
Abdullah Sarhadi is known as a brutal figure within the Taliban and is closely associated with Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban leader. During the previous Taliban regime, Sarhadi was the military commander in Bamyan and was accused of massacring 300 civilians in Yakawlang district on January 9, 2001, as well as being involved in the massacres in Bamyan and the destruction of the Buddha statues.
Jamhur News-Bamyan reports: “With the appointment of this ruthless figure as governor, systematic oppression and organized looting by the Taliban in Bamyan commenced. Sarhadi, in his first move, aligned himself with several Hazara figures to gain the support of the Shia and Hazara communities. Among them were Hayatullah Khandan, a prominent businessman; Abdullah Ayoubi, Amin Ebtehaj Hojjati, a professor at Bamyan University; and Sheikh Nazir Hussain Jafari. He even appointed Abdullah Ayoubi as the head of urban security intelligence.” These individuals were also instrumental in aiding Sarhadi in the plundering, smuggling of historical artifacts, and extortion of the people.
The report further details: “Under various pretexts, Abdullah Ayoubi would detain wealthy Bamyan residents, extort money from them, and share the proceeds with Sarhadi. Sheikh Nazir Hussain Jafari put up education positions for sale, coercing employees and teachers into bribery, with the profits again being shared with Sarhadi. Hayatullah Khandan played a role in the smuggling and excavation of historical artifacts. Muhammad Khan Ghazi, Sarhadi’s brother, with the help of Pakistani engineers, repeatedly excavated sites such as the city of Ghulghula, the Buddhas, Daowti, Panjab district, and a residential house in the Chapdara village of Dara Saadat. After looting these sites, they would abandon them.”
However, these key figures did not last long; Hayatullah Khandan was assassinated last year, Nazir Hussain Jafari was removed from his position as head of education, and Abdullah Ayoubi was dismissed from his role as head of urban security intelligence. Jamhur News-Bamyan reports that looting and plundering have become the norm for the Taliban in Bamyan. The report also highlights that the contract for Band-e Amir National Park, worth seven million rupees, was awarded to Sarhadi’s brother. The entrance fee for the park has increased, and Sarhadi’s men extort money from tourists indiscriminately. This is just a glimpse of the Taliban’s plundering in Bamyan.
The people of Bamyan, fed up with Abdullah Sarhadi, lament: “God forgive the former grave diggers; Mullah Abdullah Sarhadi has plundered us.”
