KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban intelligence agents have violently arrested university lecturer Mohammad Anwar Panahi in Kabul and taken him to an unknown location, local sources confirmed.
According to sources, Mr. Panahi, who also serves as the head of the economics faculty at Aburayhan University, was detained in Kabul’s Pol-e-Sorkh neighborhood on Saturday, July 20.
A photo obtained by KabulNow shows the university lecturer with a bloodied face, and sources say that Taliban agents subjected Mr. Panahi to severe beating before his arrest.
The motive behind the university lecturer’s arrest remains unclear. However, the source mentioned that the Taliban had previously threatened him with arrest, accusing him of “collaborating with foreign media.”
The arrest is the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Taliban targeting activists, university lecturers, and journalists. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, there have been numerous reports of arbitrary arrests, torture, and killings of these individuals, often under accusations of spying or criticizing the regime’s policies.
In February 2023, Taliban security agents arrested Matiullah Wesa, a university lecturer and education activist, accusing him of “provocative actions against the state.” A month later, they arrested Rasul Abdi Parsi, a former Herat University lecturer, for criticizing the regime on social media.
While the Taliban released Matiullah Wesa last October after more than seven months of imprisonment, they sentenced Rasul Parsi to 18 months in prison on blasphemy charges.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have also detained dozens of journalists, media workers, and YouTubers as part of their systematic effort to pressure them to align with the regime’s broadcasting policies.
Yesterday, the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC) reported that the Taliban arrested YouTuber Sayed Rahim Saidi, along with his son and three colleagues, in the Khushhal Khan area of Kabul.
According to AFJC, Sayed Rahim Saidi, the managing director and producer of Anar Media, a YouTube-based broadcaster, was arrested on July 14, with no information available about his current whereabouts.
While the Taliban released his son and colleagues the following day, Sayed Rahim Saidi remains in their custody.
The Taliban have yet to comment on the matter.
In a statement, the media watchdog called for the immediate and unconditional release of the YouTuber and urged the Taliban to end the unjust detention of press members performing their duties.
Recent findings by AFJC, released last week, revealed that 29 journalists and media workers were detained between January and June 2024. Most of these cases were carried out by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence and the Ministry of Virtue and Vice.