KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban intelligence agents have detained a member of the former Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Panjshir province, northeastern Afghanistan, local sources reported.
The sources identified the former military personnel as Mohammad Ayub, originally from Panjshir province, who was detained by the Taliban in the capital city of Panjshir on Tuesday, December 17.
According to the sources, Mohammad Ayub served as a soldier in Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) during the previous government. He fled to Iran following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and recently returned from Iran.
The reason for his detention remains unclear, and Taliban authorities have yet to comment. However, sources said that he had no connections with any political or armed groups opposing the Taliban.
This incident is the latest in a series of targeted arrests, detentions, torture, and killings of former soldiers and employees of the previous government by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Over the past three years of their rule, despite their declared “general amnesty,” the Taliban have arrested, tortured, and in some cases killed hundreds of former government employees, particularly members of the ANDSF, across the country.
In his quarterly report, covering the period from August to October, submitted to the UN Security Council on December 12, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres documented at least five killings, 14 arbitrary arrests and detentions, and four instances of torture of former government officials and former ANDSF members by the Taliban in the country.
In most cases, the Taliban accuses former ANDSF members, particularly those from Panjshir, of possessing weapons or collaborating with armed resistance groups like the National Resistance Front (NRF) or the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF).
The UN and human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the Taliban for revenge killings and widespread human rights violations, urging the regime to uphold the rights and freedoms of all citizens, including former ANDSF members.
