KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in northern Faryab province have reported that members of the Taliban gunned down a former local police officer affiliated with the previous government in the province.
Speaking with KabulNow today, the sources identified the former local police officer as Tokhtamesh, who was residing in Mirshadi village within Almar district of the province.
According to the sources, Tokhtamesh was brutally shot dead by two Taliban members identified as Hayatullah and Gholam Sakhi in the capital city of Maymana on Monday, May 4.
The sources described the incident as a revenge killing, detailing that during the previous government, Tokhtamesh was accused of killing a brother of the Taliban members during the war with Taliban in the province.
According to the sources, although the conflict was resolved a while ago, with Tokhtamesh paying a compensation of AFN 1,200,000 ($16,500) and parts of his land to the Taliban members as blood money, they came after him again and gunned him down.
After returning power, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced a “general amnesty” for employees of the previous government. However, this hasn’t prevented local commanders and members from conducting revenge attacks, especially targeting former security personnel.
For nearly three years now, hundreds of former government officials and members of the previous security forces have either disappeared or been killed across the country.
In a report released last year, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) revealed that between August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power, and June 2023, the Taliban was responsible for at least 218 extrajudicial killings, 14 enforced disappearances, over 144 cases of torture, and 424 arbitrary arrests of former government officials and members of the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
“Individuals were detained by the de facto (Taliban) security forces, often briefly, before being killed. 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,” the report said.
Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA, emphasized that the Taliban must demonstrate a “genuine commitment” to the general amnesty, which is a crucial step in ensuring “real prospects” for justice, reconciliation and peace in the country.
The Taliban have also been arbitrarily detaining members of former ANDSF, providing no basis for their detention and frequently holding them incommunicado. Families often report they have been given no information as to their whereabouts, or why they are being held.
Two days ago, local sources reported that Taliban intelligence agents in northeastern Takhar province arrested two members of former ANDSF identified as Mohammad Usman and Samiullah Sadat.
In mid-April, the Taliban reportedly arrested a retired general of the former ANDSF and his son in Kabul city.
The reason for their arrest remains unclear, as the Taliban authorities do not disclose information regarding these matters.
