RASC News Agency: In a harrowing account that further exposes the Taliban’s deeply entrenched culture of abuse and impunity, former Afghanistan’s Vice President Amrullah Saleh has revealed that Abdul Rahim Hamza, a high-ranking official within the Taliban’s intelligence agency, was killed by a teenage boy whom he had reportedly held for sexual exploitation. According to Saleh, the teenage assailant was one of many young victims entrapped in a brutal cycle of abuse, a practice disturbingly normalized among the Taliban under the guise of power and control. The killing, which has not yet been publicly acknowledged or denied by the Taliban or any independent bodies, reportedly took place in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of Kabul, an area already suffering from frequent Taliban-related violence.
In a detailed post on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Saleh clarified that the term “bacha” commonly used in Taliban-dominated areas is a coded reference to adolescent boys subjected to sexual enslavement and systemic exploitation. He alleged that these practices, far from being isolated incidents, are part of an institutionalized system of abuse that has long flourished unchecked within the Taliban’s ranks. “The young boy, likely pushed to the brink by prolonged abuse, took justice into his own hands in an act of resistance against the dehumanizing tyranny he was subjected to,” Saleh wrote, highlighting the emotional and psychological trauma inflicted upon countless vulnerable youths under Taliban rule.
According to Saleh’s political platform, the Rawand-e Sabz (Green Trend), Abdul Rahim Hamza had recently been appointed First Deputy of Foreign Intelligence by the Taliban’s top leadership a position that placed him at the heart of the regime’s intelligence operations. The statement claims Hamza was shot dead by the very boy he had been abusing, in what can only be described as a tragic but revealing act of defiance. Photographs and video footage allegedly taken at the scene appear to confirm the fatal shooting, showing Hamza’s lifeless body following what sources describe as a targeted act of retribution.
This revelation has cast a renewed spotlight on the Taliban’s appalling human rights record, particularly their long-documented involvement in bacha bazi, or “boy play” a practice that is both morally abhorrent and criminal under international law. Despite global condemnation and repeated calls for accountability, the Taliban have done nothing to address this culture of abuse. On the contrary, they have consistently shielded perpetrators and silenced victims through fear, violence, and institutional cover-ups. Rights organizations and former Afghanistani officials argue that this latest incident underscores the urgent need for international accountability mechanisms. “This is not just a tragic anomaly it is the direct consequence of a regime that thrives on systemic oppression, misogyny, and the abuse of children,” one human rights advocate told RASC.
While the Taliban continue to present themselves as a legitimate authority on the global stage, stories like this reveal the gruesome reality of their rule: a regime sustained not by law or justice, but by terror, exploitation, and deeply rooted criminality. The silence of the international community in the face of such atrocities only emboldens their grip on power and prolongs the suffering of countless innocent lives. Until these crimes are met with decisive global condemnation and legal action, Afghanistan will remain a sanctuary for warlords masquerading as rulers where the cries of the abused are met with silence, and justice is left in the hands of the powerless.
