RASC News Agency: Local sources in Takhar province report that Taliban officials in Khwaja Bahauddin district have been engaging in systematic extortion of teachers during the distribution of their retirement pensions. According to the reports, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir Haqpal, the Taliban’s director of education in Khwaja Bahauddin, alongside two senior officials, Abdul Fatah Omari and Qiyamuddin Nezami, have been coercing teachers into handing over between 300 to 500 Afghanistani rupees in cash. Over the past three days alone, Taliban operatives have illicitly amassed over one million Afghanistani rupees from educators under the guise of salary disbursements.
Sources further reveal that Mawlawi Haqpal has explicitly threatened teachers with dismissal should they refuse to comply with these demands. This alarming practice has intensified concerns regarding widespread corruption and financial exploitation within Taliban-controlled administrative structures. Despite mounting reports, Taliban authorities in Takhar have so far remained silent on these allegations. This incident reflects a broader pattern of the Taliban’s institutionalized extortion of Afghanistani citizens, a tactic that has been routinely employed throughout their three-year rule to sustain their grip on power.
Corruption and financial misconduct within the Taliban’s governance continue to provoke widespread outrage among Afghanistani citizens, with growing fears over the detrimental impact on the nation’s already fragile economic and social landscape. Teachers and other public-sector employees already struggling to secure their livelihoods now face intensified financial hardships due to the regime’s unchecked predatory practices.
