RASC News Agency: Sources in Ghor province report that since early January, the Taliban’s intelligence service has detained dozens of individuals on charges of being affiliated with Hizb ut-Tahrir. According to these sources, the detainees have been transferred to undisclosed locations. At least three local sources have confirmed to the media that the detained individuals include young people, schoolteachers, university professors, and several mosque imams, all accused of having connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir. The arrests followed the Taliban’s declaration in early January that Hizb ut-Tahrir members are “Kharijites” and that their killing is “permissible.” In 2022, the Taliban’s intelligence service officially banned the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Afghanistan.
Over the past two years, the Taliban have arrested several individuals across various provinces on charges of affiliation with the group. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an extremist and illegal organization known for its radical ideology. The group has long contributed to the rise of “terrorism” in Afghanistan and the wider region. During the Republic’s twenty-year tenure, Hizb ut-Tahrir fiercely opposed human, cultural, and scientific values, calling on citizens to revolt against the government. They advocated for the establishment of a “completely Islamic” system. Once the Taliban secured control of Afghanistan with the assistance of the U.S. and other regional intelligence agencies, Hizb ut-Tahrir expressed its support for the group. Until last year, the organization was “more Taliban than the Taliban” in its endorsement of their crimes and injustices.
The followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir have always been swift in their takfir (excommunication) of Muslims, making no delay in declaring someone an apostate. Simply asking about their leader or his whereabouts would result in excommunication. Now, with the Taliban having established their fully Islamic and ethnocentric government, they no longer tolerate even their former fundamentalist allies.
