RASC News Agency: Reliable sources have disclosed to RASC News that the Taliban have sentenced four local musicians from Kunduz province to one year and three months in prison. According to these reports, Taliban intelligence apprehended the musicians on the night of January 10, around 1:00 a.m., from the village of Khaili Gada in Kunduz’s Aliabad district. The arrests reportedly occurred after the musicians attended a night gathering where they played the dambura, a traditional Afghanistani stringed instrument, at a guesthouse in the village. Following their detention, the Taliban handed down prison sentences to each of the musicians, identified as Amir Shah, Almas, Faridun, and Shamsullah.
All four are residents of Khaili Gada and Qasim Ali villages in the district. As of now, the Taliban have not issued any statements regarding these arrests. This incident is emblematic of the broader surge in arbitrary detentions since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. Civilians and former military personnel are being arrested daily, often on unsubstantiated charges. Human rights organizations have condemned these detentions as “arbitrary,” with many Afghanistani citizens decrying the lack of “fair trials,” which has further entrenched a climate of “fear and repression” throughout the country.
Observers note that under Taliban rule, no citizen in Afghanistan is safe from persecution. The group continues to impose their rigid interpretation of Islam, labeling anything unfamiliar to their Madrasa-based worldview as forbidden or un-Islamic. This policy has not only curtailed individual freedoms but has also fostered an environment of pervasive censorship and systemic oppression.
