RASC News Agency: In a concealed location in Kabul, I had the rare opportunity to interview a former soldier of the Afghanistan security forces, now surviving under Taliban rule. Due to severe security threats, he requested anonymity, but his account reveals the harrowing ordeal of soldiers who, following the collapse of the republic, have fallen prey to the Taliban’s retribution. According to him, the Taliban whose ranks are overwhelmingly composed of Pashtuns are systematically persecuting, torturing, and eliminating former security personnel from non-Pashtun ethnic groups. This soldier, who once served at a National Army base before Kabul’s fall, now endures a life of terror, destitution, and starvation just like hundreds of his fellow servicemen. Speaking to RASC News, he stated:
“We are alive, but in truth, we are nothing more than the walking dead. The Taliban have stripped us of everything our dignity, our homes, our future, and our hope. Since the fall of the republic, we are no longer considered human. The Taliban hunt us down, imprison us, and execute us solely because we are not Pashtun.” He recounted the tragic fate of his comrades, many of whom have been abducted by the Taliban in recent months. One of them, a former commando under the republic, was forcibly taken from his home in Kabul weeks ago, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
“When they took him, we all knew he would never return alive. Later, we heard he was executed in a secret Taliban prison, but no one dares to ask questions. The Taliban preserve only their fellow Pashtuns; the rest of us are condemned to a slow and inevitable death.” Officially, the Taliban claim they do not harm former security personnel. However, the grim reality tells a different story behind the walls of their clandestine prisons, systematic torture and mass executions continue unabated. The soldier, who himself endured a brief period in Taliban captivity, described the horrors he witnessed:
“In Taliban prisons, I never saw a single Pashtun being tortured. Every prisoner was non-Pashtun. They beat us with electric cables, denied us food, and threatened us at night, warning that if we did not confess, our families would also be taken. The Taliban spare no opportunity to exact vengeance upon us.”
He further revealed that many former security personnel, now forced into hiding, live in extreme destitution, unable to work out of fear for their lives. The Taliban have systematically barred them from employment in both government offices and private companies. In a particularly damning revelation, the soldier asserted that most of the spies who had infiltrated the security forces during the republic were Pashtuns. According to him, these individuals had maintained secret ties with the Taliban, and following the regime’s collapse, they have now assumed key positions within the Taliban administration.
“We never realized the extent of the betrayal within our own ranks. These men, embedded within the army and police, were Taliban operatives all along. They sabotaged operations, leaked vital intelligence to the enemy, and now, instead of facing torture like us, they have risen to power and are reaping the rewards of their treachery.”
He emphasized that many of these former infiltrators now hold influential positions within the Taliban regime, playing a pivotal role in the suppression and elimination of ex-security personnel. “The Taliban’s policies are brazenly driven by ethnic supremacy. They view non-Pashtuns as second-class citizens or worse, as enemies. Even former Pashtun security personnel have been spared; many were integrated into the Taliban administration and granted privileges. But for us, the non-Pashtuns, even a piece of bread is forbidden. If you’re Pashtun, the Taliban will protect you. If you’re not, you must either flee or die.”
With a voice heavy with sorrow and frustration, the soldier condemned the world’s silence on what he described as an unfolding genocide:
“The Western nations and human rights organizations that once encouraged us to fight terrorism now refuse to even acknowledge our suffering. We have been abandoned to our fate, while the Taliban grow stronger by the day, intensifying their campaign of vengeance against us.” This is just one of countless stories of former Afghanistani soldiers men who once fought for the security and freedom of their country, only to now face persecution, torture, and execution under Taliban rule. If the world fails to act soon, this silent ethnic cleansing will continue unchecked, with devastating consequences.
