Local residents in the Paryan district of Panjshir province have complained that they are forced to wash Taliban fighters’ clothes.
Taliban’s intimidating rules have cast a frightening shadow over the lives of civilians, particularly women, locals complain.
In one incident, a woman in Korpetab village was forced to wash a large pile of dirty clothes by Taliban fighters. When she tried to refuse, saying that she was unable to wash them because she was sick, the fighters threatened to shoot her.
Another resident said that residents are ordered to clean the clothes of Taliban fighters, despite a Taliban commander forbidding the group’s members from forcefully getting them washed by residents last year.
In another incident, residents in a local bazaar were forced to clean a pile of clothes at gunpoint when three Taliban rangers brought them.
Residents of Panjshir have also complained of arbitrary beatings and arrests by Taliban fighters.
One source said that a group of Taliban men randomly beat and briefly detained eight farmers who were busy in their fields.
Taliban’s head of information and culture in Panjshir did not respond to KabulNow’s questions on this matter.
Abubakr Siddique, Taliban’s spokesperson for the provincial governor, denied the news that residents are forced by the Taliban to clean clothes, saying that they have enough facilities to do it themselves.
A recent report by Amnesty International shows that Taliban fighters have targeted the civilian population in Panjshir to force submission and compliance. Taliban have committed acts of torture and other ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions, hostage-taking, the intentional burning of civilian homes, and arbitrary deprivation of liberty which amount to war crimes.
