KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province say the Taliban have imposed stricter restrictions on residents of Dara district following an armed attack on the group’s checkpoints.
According to the sources, the attack took place on Friday night in the Sarsafidar area of Dara district, where a Taliban checkpoint came under assault. Following the incident, Taliban authorities reportedly summoned local elders and accused residents of the village of being involved in the attack.
The sources said the Taliban informed community leaders that, from now on, residents would be prohibited from traveling into the surrounding mountains or taking their livestock there for grazing.
In addition, the Taliban have reportedly imposed new restrictions on movement within the village, banning public gatherings and preventing residents from moving near Taliban checkpoints.
Local sources said it remains unclear who carried out the Friday night attack. No individual or armed group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
The reported restrictions follow another incident highlighting tensions between the Taliban and Panjshir residents. On July 25, local sources told KabulNow that Taliban forces in Pariyan district damaged farmland and fruit trees while constructing roads to military posts. An elderly landowner who protested after a road was built through his property was allegedly beaten by Taliban members after trying to record the damage. The Taliban reportedly rejected his request to change the route and accused him of not being a “Muslim.”
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.
