KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban have detained at least seven residents in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province as security operations intensify in the region, according to local sources, who say the detainees are civilians with no known links to armed opposition groups.
A source told KabulNow that the seven men were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday this week in Anaba district and are currently being held at Dashtak prison under the custody of the Taliban’s Special Brigade forces in Panjshir.
The detainees were identified as Mahmood Salih, Abdul Qahir, Haya, Ahmad Sediq, Nadim, Sayed Omar, and Shams.
According to the source, the detainees are civilians who have no affiliation with any political or armed group. The source added that Taliban forces demanded weapons from some of those arrested, although no further details were provided.
Local sources also reported an escalation of Taliban operations in Dara district following an attack on a Taliban military vehicle in the Abdullah Khail area.
Early last month, a Taliban ranger vehicle was reportedly struck by an explosive device in the Monjanesto area of Dara Abdullah Khail. Following the incident, a local source alleged that Taliban forces detained and physically assaulted more than 100 residents during sweeping security operations.
One resident, who said he was among those detained, told KabulNow that he was released after several days on guarantee. He alleged that detainees were warned not to speak publicly about the abuse they experienced after their release.
Additional sources told the newspaper that a Taliban intelligence unit attached to the group’s Special Brigade has established a base inside the Shaheed Malik Mirza School in Abdullah Khail. According to the sources, the unit detains and beats up to five people each day before releasing many of them following interrogation.
The sources alleged that both former members of Afghanistan’s security forces and ordinary civilians have been detained without clear justification, subjected to interrogation and physical abuse, and later released.
They added that more than 20 residents of Dara district remain in Taliban custody.
According to local sources, the Abdullah Khail valley remains under strict Taliban surveillance. They said the Taliban have stationed two military battalions in the relatively small valley and have prohibited entry by people from outside the area.
The Taliban have not publicly commented on the reported arrests or the allegations of mistreatment.
Panjshir has remained one of Afghanistan’s most sensitive security regions since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. The province became the main stronghold of the National Resistance Front (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, and has also witnessed activities by other anti-Taliban armed groups.
Although the Taliban claimed to have taken control of the province in September 2021, resistance attacks have continued intermittently, particularly in remote mountainous districts.
Because of its symbolic importance as a historic center of anti-Taliban resistance and its difficult mountainous terrain, Panjshir continues to receive a significant Taliban military presence.
The group has maintained extensive security deployments, intelligence operations, and frequent search campaigns in the province, citing the need to suppress armed opposition, while residents and human rights organizations have repeatedly raised concerns over arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and alleged abuses against civilians during these operations.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have described the Taliban’s actions in Panjshir as amounting to war crimes, citing arbitrary detentions and collective punishment of civilians. In 2023, Amnesty said many individual acts by Taliban forces constitute war crimes and together amount to the war crime of collective punishment.
