KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Taliban authorities have arrested two former soldiers in separate incidents in Balkh and Baghlan provinces, sources confirm.
The individuals, identified as Abdul Wasay Khohgdaie and Nazir Ahmad, both hail from the Nahrin district in Baghlan. Sources indicate that the two men served in the Afghan National Army under the former Republic government.
According to one source, Wasay was stationed in Bagram during the Republic government. After the fall of the government, he moved to Mazar-e-Sharif, where he worked as a fruit vendor.
He was arrested on Sunday afternoon, January 26, while at his workplace in Mazar-e-Sharif. The source also notes that Wasay is the brother of Hamza Khohgdaie, a former commander of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, who was killed in Nahrin in the summer of 2024.
In a separate incident, sources report that Nazir Ahmad, the brother-in-law of Hamza Khohgdaie, was arrested by the Taliban on Saturday. Ahmad, a former military officer, was detained in the village of Khwaja Ahmad in Nahrin district, where he had been living.
The reasons for their arrests remain unclear.
Despite the Taliban’s declaration of a general amnesty following their return to power in August 2021, reports of arbitrary detentions of former government soldiers persist. Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the Taliban for continued violations of human rights, including the detention, torture, and killing of former officials, security forces, and civilians.