KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Afghanistan’s northeastern Panjshir province reported that Taliban intelligence agents have detained two residents of the province for taking pictures.
The sources identified these men as Mirajuddin and Hilaluddin, originally from the Anaba district in the province. They were detained by Taliban agents on Monday, July 29.
Their fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
According to the sources, the two men owned a restaurant in the province and were detained by Taliban agents while taking pictures of their restaurant for advertising purposes.
The local Taliban authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
The mountainous Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, is a remote region that has resisted Taliban rule since the group seized control of the province in September 2021, just weeks after taking over the capital, Kabul, as the U.S. withdrew.
Since then, the Taliban have detained, tortured, and killed hundreds of residents in the province, often accusing them of collaborating with armed anti-Taliban groups or possessing weapons.
Rights groups and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, have repeatedly raised concerns about the Taliban’s human rights violations in the province.
In his report last year, Mr. Bennett stated that the Taliban have routinely subjected civilians and prisoners in Panjshir to house-to-house searches, arbitrary arrests and detentions, extrajudicial killings, torture, and displacement. He also noted that the group has severely suppressed local communities, creating an environment of fear.
Rights groups, activists, and groups opposing the Taliban say that the regime’s repressive actions toward residents of Panjshir province constitute war crimes.
“Over the past two years, the Taliban has repeatedly sent troops to Panjshir, launching operations to suppress the NRF,” Amnesty International said in a report last year. “The Taliban in Panjshir stands accused of “shooting prisoners, arbitrary arrests, torture, and the targeted killing of civilians.”
