VANCOUVER, CANADA – Sources in Kabul say that the Taliban forces have shot and killed four young men at a checkpoint yesterday, May 13. The group’s security authorities claim that the men were accused of theft and were killed while running away from a crime scene.
According to a source we spoke to, the men were from Panjshir and were shot at Bagh-e-Bala neighborhood in northwestern Kabul, which is predominantly populated by Tajiks from the northern provinces, especially Panjshir. Three of the men were killed and one was wounded.
Local eyewitnesses say the Taliban forces opened fire after the men, who were on a motorbike, did not stop properly at the checkpoint.
“They did not come to a proper stop at the checkpoint, and as they were conversing among themselves, they were shot from behind on their motorbike,” the source explained.
Khalid Zadran, the Taliban spokesperson for Kabul police claimed that the men had stolen 800,000 Afghanis ($14000) worth of gold from a house in Afshar, a nearby neighberhood to where the shooting took place, and were running away when they encountered the group’s police force.
The source we spoke with, however, say that the three men killed were the son and two nephews of a local emerald merchant, Haji Ghulam Naqshband, who lives in Panjshir, a valley rich in the gem stone mines. The victims were named Ismail, Abdul Wahab, and Shakiruddin.
The Taliban have previously also shot civilians at checkpoints on bogus allegations of theft, affiliation with ISKP or the military opposition groups, or for mere failure to stop at the checkpoint.
Most of such cases have happened in northern parts of Kabul where the residents are Tajiks. The people say that the group uses any pretext to torment the population that it considers unfriendly and potential allies of the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, both military opposition groups to the Taliban predominantly populated by ethnic Tajiks.
