KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Panjshir Province, in northeastern Afghanistan, say that the Taliban have detained four civilians in Pariyan district of the province.
Sources in Pariyan told KabulNow that the four men were detained on Monday (August 17) from the village of Kojan.
According to the sources, the detainees are young farmers who have no links to any group or organization opposed to the Taliban.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said that Taliban forces transferred the four young men to the provincial center of Panjshir following their detention. Two days after their arrest, their whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
The latest detentions come amid continued security restrictions and military operations in Panjshir. In a July 18 report, local sources said the Taliban had detained at least seven residents of the province, describing them as civilians with no known links to armed opposition groups.
Residents of Panjshir complain that, five years after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the province remains under a heavily “militarized” atmosphere. The Taliban maintain a significant military presence in the province and have imposed strict restrictions on residents, including nighttime movement restrictions.
There have previously been numerous reports of arbitrary arrests of ordinary residents of Panjshir. In some cases, detainees have been accused of opposing the Taliban or cooperating with armed groups fighting against them.
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.
