KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Kabul have reported that the Taliban detained a retired general of the former Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and his son in Kabul city.
Local sources told KabulNow today that Essa Khan, who was a general in the former army and his son Najibullah were detained on Saturday.
Mr. Khan is from Panjshir; the small province north of Kabul the regime has made its priority to pacify out of fears of a potential resistance.
The detention of the former General and his son also marks the latest in a series of crackdowns on residents of Panjshir province by the Taliban. Since its takeover of Afghanistan, the group has detained, tortured, and killed dozens of residents of the province, accusing them of collaborating with armed resistance groups or possessing weapons.
However, according to the sources, the general had retired before the collapse of the republic government. Since then, he had been leading a civilian life with no affiliations to any opposition groups against the Taliban.
The reason for this arrest remains unclear, and the Taliban has not yet commented on the matter.
Despite declaring a “General Amnesty” upon returning to power, the Taliban has repeatedly violated it by arresting, torturing, and killing employees of the previous government, particularly former soldiers, women, and rights activists.
In a report last year, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least 800 cases of human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture and ill-treatment against the former army, police, and intelligence forces between August 15, 2021, and June 2023.
“In most instances, individuals were detained by de facto security forces, often briefly, before being killed,” the report said.
“Some were taken to detention facilities and killed while in custody, others were taken to unknown locations and killed, their bodies either dumped or handed over to family members,” it added.
The ongoing abuse and mistreatment of former government employees, especially soldiers, have sparked serious concerns regarding their safety and security across Afghanistan.
The human rights organizations and groups have consistently expressed concerns about the arrest, torture, and killings of these individuals by the Taliban.
To evade Taliban revenge, thousands of former members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have fled to neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan, over the past years. According to reports, approximately 30,000 soldiers sought refuge in Iran to escape the threat from the Taliban.
The Support Committee for Former Soldiers of Afghanistan (SCFSA), formed to advocate for the rights of former Afghan soldiers, says that those who fled to Iran and Pakistan are now facing deportation.
In a social media statement on Saturday, April 20, the group asked the governments of Iran and Pakistan to cease the mistreatment of Afghan refugees, particularly former soldiers, and to refrain from deporting them back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The group also called on the UN and international rights groups not to stay silent regarding human rights violations, illegal arrests, and killings of former Afghan soldiers by the Taliban.
