RASC News Agency: Local sources in Paktia province have confirmed the grim discovery of the body of a teenage boy named Yousuf, 20 days after his abduction. Yousuf, a resident of the Tira and Chakhakh villages in the Sahi district, was found brutally murdered, sparking widespread shock and condemnation in the region. According to eyewitness reports and family members, the teen was forcibly taken by unknown assailants nearly three weeks ago. Since then, no credible investigation or information has been provided by the Taliban authorities regarding his disappearance or fate.
The circumstances surrounding Yousuf’s abduction and killing remain murky. The Taliban have yet to issue an official statement or express accountability for the incident, deepening suspicions about their complicity or, at minimum, their gross negligence in protecting citizens. This case is not isolated. Across multiple provinces, there has been a marked surge in suspicious killings and kidnappings targeting civilians, activists, and local figures. Yesterday, reports emerged of the killing of a shopkeeper named Najibullah in Kunar province, highlighting the growing lawlessness gripping the country.
Victims of kidnapping often disappear for weeks, with families coerced into paying ransoms for their release if they are released at all. Many abductees never return, their bodies found weeks later, or remain missing altogether.Despite consistently blaming “armed criminal gangs,” the Taliban’s pervasive military and administrative control over Afghanistan casts serious doubt on their narrative. Multiple families and independent analysts accuse the Taliban of orchestrating these abductions themselves or colluding with criminal networks to extort families, enriching some within their ranks.
In many cases, even after ransoms are paid, hostages remain captive or are executed, while local Taliban officials repeatedly refuse to conduct meaningful investigations or bring perpetrators to justice. With the country’s independent judicial and law enforcement structures effectively dismantled, families are left with no recourse but silence, fear, and desperation trapped in a cycle of violence and impunity under Taliban rule. The international community’s silence and lack of concrete action to hold the Taliban accountable have emboldened this climate of terror, underscoring the urgent need for global mechanisms to protect vulnerable Afghanistani civilians and restore rule of law.
