RASC News Agency: Local sources report that the Taliban have arrested Azam Bakhtar, a former commander of local police in Dawlat Shah district, Laghman province. According to these sources, Taliban intelligence forces initially stormed Bakhtar’s residence but failed to apprehend him. In response, Bakhtar voluntarily reported to the Taliban’s provincial headquarters in Laghman, where he was promptly detained by their intelligence operatives and transferred to an undisclosed location. Reports confirm that for the past three days, no information has emerged regarding Bakhtar’s condition or whereabouts, raising serious concerns among his family and close associates.
Despite the Taliban’s repeated assurances that former government officials and security personnel are safe, numerous accounts over the last three years have exposed a consistent pattern of arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings targeting former military and security officials. The Taliban’s campaign of repression against ex-security forces shows no signs of abating. Local media highlight that the majority of those detained in such operations belong to the Tajik ethnic group, which has historically resisted political, ethnic, religious, and cultural oppression. Tajiks have long rejected the compromises of the Ghani administration and the U.S.-brokered agreements that facilitated the Taliban’s rise, refusing to submit to the group’s authoritarian rule.
Tajik resistance against the Taliban began at a time when the international community, Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, and other non-Pashtun ethnic groups most notably the Hazaras and Uzbeks largely remained silent in the face of the Taliban’s occupation. From the outset, Tajiks established military and resistance fronts against the Taliban, demonstrating an unyielding commitment to confronting tyranny and defending Afghanistan’s pluralistic identity. This steadfast defiance underscores the pivotal role of Tajiks in opposing the Taliban’s ethnonationalist regime.
