KABUL — A former intelligence officer has been found dead in Ghor province just days after being arrested by Taliban intelligence agents, local sources report.
The body of Mohsen Rasuli, who served under the former Afghan government’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), was discovered on Monday in the village of Safeed Rakhna in the recently formed Allahyar district. Another unidentified body was found alongside his.
Rasuli was detained on Saturday (July 27) in Joi Surkh village by Taliban intelligence forces affiliated with the Kohistanat unit. According to a credible source in Ghor, this was not the first time Rasuli had been targeted. He had previously been arrested twice by the Taliban since their return to power in 2021.
In 2023, Rasuli was reportedly released after surrendering a firearm. He was detained again in 2024 for unclear reasons and sentenced to six months in prison by a Taliban military court. He had only recently completed that sentence and been released.
Rasuli held a degree in economics from India and had joined the NDS in Ghor in 2017. He served until the collapse of the western-backed republic government in August 2021.
The Taliban have not yet commented on Rasuli’s death.
His killing adds to a growing list of former security personnel who have been arrested, disappeared, or killed despite the Taliban’s declaration of a “general amnesty” after seizing control of Afghanistan.
Concerns about the safety of former military personnel have grown further in recent months as neighboring countries ramp up deportations of Afghan migrants. Many returnees include ex-soldiers and civil servants who are vulnerable to Taliban reprisal.
A recent report by the United Nations documented cases of retaliation, torture, and arbitrary detention targeting forcibly returned individuals, including former government employees, women’s rights activists, journalists, and civil society members. The Taliban, however, maintain that such incidents are isolated and based on “personal” revenge, not the regime’s policy.
