WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – Sources in Nangarhar province say that a member of the former Afghanistan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) died after being tortured by the Taliban’s notorious intelligence unit.
An anonymous source refusing to disclose his identity told KabulNow that the former soldier was named Ali Gul and was detained by the Taliban a few days ago in the village of ‘Basol’ in the Momandara district.
According to the source, the Taliban handed over Ali Gul’s body to his family today, March 6. Gul’s body carried signs of strangulation around his neck, the source who saw the body said.
Ali Gul had adopted a civilian life after the collapse of the republic and the Taliban’s return to power. According to our sources, he ran a shop in his hometown in the Momandara district.
The Taliban have quietly cracked down on the remnants of the former ANDSF since retaking control of Afghanistan. Although the group claims that it abides by its earlier promise of amnesty, rights groups have documented ubiquitous detention and torture of those associated with the former government.
On March 5, 2023, local sources reported the death of a former soldier under the torture of Taliban intelligence forces in Herat province. The is former military officer was called Mirwais, who had served in the Shindand district of Herat before August 2021.
The Taliban intelligence had detained Mirwais on March 2, 2023, and sent his corpse to his family three days later.
In another case, on March 2, 2023, the Taliban arrested and executed the former police commander of Bak Khail district in Paktika province. The Taliban had released a video of his execution.
In September 2022, KabulNow’s Farsi affiliate, Etilaatroz documented the massive arrest, torture and killing of former military and government employees in Parwan province. The investigation found that more than 150 soldiers and employees of the former government have been arrested, tortured or killed by the Taliban in this province in one year between September 2021 and September 2022.
In July 2023, Etilaatroz found that the Taliban had tortured and arrested former soldiers in Kabul, Herat, Ghor, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Faryab, Takhar, Panjshir, Badakhshan, Farah, Bamyan, Paktia and Baghlan and in some cases killed them.
Since the Taliban’s take over, hundreds of former military personnel across Afghanistan have been detained, imprisoned, tortured, and, in many cases killed.
The New York Times in collaboration with 8AM, an Afghanistan media outlet, documented hundreds of such cases in the immediate aftermath of the group’s return to power.
Many international human rights organisations, including the UN Secretary General as well as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Afghanistan, have documented and raised alarm about the continuing crackdown on the members of the former ANDSF.
The new quarterly report by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council, released today, March 6, also voices concern about the Taliban’s detention, torture, and killing of those affiliated with the former Afghanistan National Security and Defense Forces.
