KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Afghanistan’s central Uruzgan province report that the Taliban have arrested eight people, accusing them of leaking information to the media about the killing of a Hazara cleric in the region.
Speaking with KabulNow today, the sources said that these individuals were arrested in the Khas Uruzgan district over the past two days. They also mentioned that the arrested individuals are relatives and neighbors of the deceased Hazara cleric.
The sources expressed concern over the situation, saying that instead of identifying and holding accountable those responsible for the killing of the Hazara cleric, the Taliban are arresting Hazara villagers.
The Hazara cleric, Rustam Rahimi, was killed by two men wearing Taliban uniforms in Shashpar village, Uruzgan province, on Saturday, July 20.
According to sources, the two men invited the cleric to a mosque and then killed him with a knife inside the mosque.
The perpetrators and the motive behind the incident remain unknown, and local Taliban authorities have yet to comment.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, there have been numerous reports of the Taliban arresting, torturing, and killing residents in Khas Uruzgan district, a Hazara-populated region.
According to local sources, over the past nearly three years, at least 21 residents of Khas Uruzgan district have been killed, and the Taliban authorities have not identified or arrested any of the perpetrators involved in these incidents.
Since the Taliban takeover, there have also been reports of forced displacement, confiscation of land and property, and the cutting of fruit trees belonging to Hazara villagers in Uruzgan province.
In August of last year, an elderly Hazara man named Haji Bostan was killed by unidentified armed men at his home in Joy Naw village, Khas Uruzgan, following the forcible cutting down of his fruit trees.
The Hazara villagers claim that the surrounding villages of Joy Naw, which are predominantly inhabited by Pashtuns supported by the Taliban authorities, were responsible for the killing of the man and the cutting down of the trees last year.
Sources reported last year that before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, approximately 1,500 Hazara families lived in Joy Naw village. However, due to conflict and violence, many have fled, and only about 300 families remain.
Human rights violations such as extortion, land appropriation, and physical violence against Hazaras are not new in Afghanistan. rights groups have consistently raised concerns about the vulnerable position of the Hazara community under Taliban rule.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Afghanistan, highlighted at the 54th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last year, “I’ve received troubling reports from Hazara communities in Khas Uruzgan, where families have fled after attacks on their livelihoods in July.”
