Some residents of the northeastern Takhar province complain that the Taliban members detain and torture people on the accusation of holding weapons. Intelligence operatives of the group imprison ordinary people and ask them to hand over weapons, according to locals.
A resident of Chaman Khusda village in Farkhar district of the province told Kabul Now that the Taliban intelligence agency has imprisoned two people from their village on the accusation of holding weapons and asked them to hand over their weapons.
The Taliban have taken them to Taloqan, the capital city of Takhar, and are torturing them just for being neighbors of a local commander, the villager added.
According to the villager, the two detainees neither hold government weapons nor private ones.
Faizullah (pseudonym) who lives in Chah Ab district of Takhar said that the Taliban imprisoned his brother on charges of holding weapons during the previous government. They are now asking him to hand over the weapon, he detailed.
The Taliban have asked for 100,000 afghanis in return for the release of his brother.
“The Taliban severely torture ordinary and poor people in police headquarter and police stations in the city forcibly asking for a huge sum of money,” said Mohammad (pseudonym) who is a resident of Taloqan city.
The people are beleaguered and ask the Taliban leadership to pay attention to this issue, he noted.
Meanwhile, Mawlawi Barakatullah, spokesperson for Taliban intelligence directorate in Takhar, rejected torturing and beating of the detainees. These people held weapons during the previous government but have not handed them over to the Taliban, he added.
The Taliban recently beat a local journalist named Zabihullah Noori in Takhar on accusation of holding weapon.
