KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban members have brutally shot and killed a former soldier who served during the republic government in Afghanistan, in Pol-e-Khomri, the capital city of northern Baghlan province.
Local sources have confirmed the incident, identifying the former soldier as Hayat Mohammad, originally from Andarab district. He was shot and killed on Saturday, May 25, in the Silo neighborhood of Pol-e-Khomri city.
According to local sources, the former soldier was exercising in a park near his house when two Taliban members on a motorcycle targeted him and killed him with multiple gunshots.
The local sources further said that moments later, the Taliban members returned and shot six more bullets into the dead body of the former soldier right in front of the local people.
The Taliban authorities have not yet commented on the incident. However, according to the former soldier’s relatives, he had retired before the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan and had been leading a normal life in the province since then.
Following their return to power, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced a “general amnesty” for employees of the previous government. Despite this, local commanders and members have continued to carry out 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 been detained, tortured, killed, or have disappeared across the country.
A similar incident occurred just three weeks ago in Maimana, the capital city of northern Faryab province, where two Taliban members shot and killed a former local police officer named Tokhtamesh. They accused him of killing a brother of one of the Taliban members during the war between the US-backed republic government and the Taliban.
Human rights groups have repeatedly accused the Taliban of gross human rights violations, expressing concerns that revenge killings and enforced disappearances of former security forces have not stopped despite the regime’s “general amnesty.”
In the past years, Taliban militants have not only targeted members of the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) but have also detained, tortured, and in some cases killed innocent civilians across the country. They often accuse them of having connections with anti-Taliban armed groups or possessing weapons.
Earlier today, local sources in northeastern Panjshir province reported the detention of a young man named Zia Ullah. He was detained by the Taliban security command in the province a week ago. The Taliban local authorities have yet to comment on the incident. However, according to a local source, the young man was unemployed and had no connection with any groups.
