KABUL – The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, made up of exiled political figures, has accused the Taliban of orchestrating ethnic cleansing through forced displacements in central Afghanistan.
In a statement released Friday, the Council said that residents of Punjab district in Bamiyan, Behsud in Maidan Wardak, and parts of Ghor province have been forcibly removed from their homes. The Council described the actions as “systematic,” calling them a form of “mass atrocity, structural discrimination, and ethnic cleansing.”
According to the Council, these evictions are being carried out directly by Taliban forces or through their coordination with Kochi nomads. It warned that the campaign is part of a broader strategy to alter local demographics, dismantle indigenous communities, and suppress historical identities.
The group said credible evidence points to ongoing threats, intimidation, property seizures, and expulsion of ethnic Hazara residents.
“This is not a localized land dispute,” the statement read. “It’s a deliberate campaign by an illegitimate regime to impose authoritarian control through cultural and geographic erasure.”
The Council urged international bodies, including the United Nations, UNAMA, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to launch independent investigations, document abuses, and provide urgent humanitarian assistance.
On Monday, 25 Hazara families were evicted from Rashk village in Punjab, Bamiyan. The Taliban reportedly locked the houses and handed them over to Kochis, following a legal decision in the nomads’ favor. A similar ruling recently led to the forced removal of 600 families in Ghor province.
Since their return to power in 2021, the Taliban have repeatedly settled long-standing land disputes between Kochis and residents of Hazara-majority provinces in favor of the nomads, often resulting in fines, expulsions, and destruction of local homes.
