RASC News Agency: Informed sources from Nangarhar and several other provinces report that hundreds of former security personnel are currently imprisoned under Taliban custody. Among these detainees, at least 231 former members of the army, police, and national security from the previous government are being held in a prison in Nangarhar. These sources reveal that the Taliban have detained these individuals without any formal charges. Some of the detainees, who wished to remain anonymous, have told the media that none of them are aware of the reasons for their arrest, and the Taliban have not provided any explanations.
Several of these prisoners have been incarcerated for nearly two and a half years, yet their fate remains uncertain. The detainees claim that most were apprehended by the Taliban’s Directorate of Intelligence, the Police Command, and the Directorate of Vice and Virtue in Nangarhar. One prisoner questioned, “If Mullah Hibatullah’s amnesty applies to everyone, then why are we still imprisoned? Yes, we served in the National Army, some were in the police, and others in national security; but after the regime change, we left our posts, and I even opened a shop in my village.”
Another detainee, using the pseudonym Rahmanullah, expressed that his family members struggle to visit him in prison. Rahmanullah mentioned that former soldiers imprisoned in Jalalabad have sent a letter to the Taliban governor in Nangarhar, seeking a decision regarding their fate, but they have yet to receive a response.
He added, “What kind of amnesty is this? Either kill us all or bring us to court so we can understand what charges we face.” He further disclosed that officials from the Directorate of Vice and Virtue label them as “slaves of the infidels” and subject them to psychological torture. According to the source, at an administrative meeting, provincial representatives, intelligence officials, and the Taliban’s police command were tasked with reviewing the cases of the 231 former security personnel and referring them to court.
The source added that the Directorate of Intelligence and the police command would scrutinize the records of former soldiers and national security members to determine their involvement in past conflicts and whether they killed anyone during these battles. Nangarhar province had the highest number of soldiers among the Pashtun people in the ranks of the former security forces.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has stated in multiple reports that the Taliban detain, torture, and even execute former soldiers and government officials. However, the Taliban have consistently denied these allegations. Yet, the reality is that the Taliban have executed thousands of former security personnel in the northern and northeastern provinces, accusing them of collaboration with the previous government.
