RASC News Agency: Local sources in Herat report that Taliban forces have arrested two Shia clerics in the province and taken them into custody. According to these sources, Mohammad Akbari, the former head of the Al-Mahdi Jibril township Council of Scholars, and Moharram-Hossein Azimi, the imam of the “Sayed al-Shuhada” mosque in the same township, were detained on the evening of Saturday, November 12.
The reasons for the detention of these clerics remain unclear. Sources indicate that attempts by community leaders and fellow scholars to secure their release have thus far been unsuccessful. Taliban officials in Herat have yet to issue any statement regarding the arrest of the two clerics. This incident occurs against a backdrop of ongoing arbitrary arrests by the Taliban, despite calls for an end to such practices. The Taliban’s intelligence agency routinely detains and incarcerates citizens without providing any justification.
The group has a history of arresting well-known individuals and religious scholars. Reports indicate that the Taliban arbitrarily detain individuals on various charges and transfer them to undisclosed locations. Two days ago, sources from Kabul reported that the Taliban had arrested Mawlawi Abasi, the former head of the Provincial Council of Panjshir, several months ago and subsequently sentenced him to 12 years in prison. Mawlawi Abasi’s family maintains that he is innocent and was engaged in the trade of lapis lazuli after the fall of the republic in the country.
In recent months, the Taliban have escalated their arbitrary detention of citizens, with the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and the Taliban’s intelligence agency being primarily responsible for these arrests.
