KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have detained six residents of Rukha district in Panjshir province after two Taliban Rangers were set on fire, according to local sources.
Sources said that two Taliban Rangers were set on fire last Wednesday, September 16, in the Gulzangar area of Hasarak Valley in Rukha district. The Green Trend, a resistance movement led by former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, has claimed responsibility for the incident.
Following the incident, Taliban forces launched house-to-house searches in Hasarak Valley on Thursday and detained a number of men and young people, taking them to a Taliban military outpost, according to sources.
One source said that around 30 residents of Hasarak were detained that day, six of whom were later transferred to a Taliban prison in the Dashtak area.
Residents of Panjshir say the province has remained heavily militarized five years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Taliban forces continue to maintain a significant security presence across the province and have introduced strict measures affecting daily life, including restrictions on movement during nighttime hours.
Panjshir has also seen repeated reports of arbitrary arrests of civilians. Taliban authorities have at times accused detainees of having links to or providing support to armed groups opposed to their rule, while residents and rights advocates have questioned the grounds for some of these arrests.
The province has remained a major security flashpoint since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Panjshir became a key base for the National Resistance Front (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, and has also witnessed operations by other armed groups fighting the Taliban.
Although the Taliban declared that they had established full control over Panjshir in September 2021, resistance attacks have continued intermittently, particularly in remote and mountainous parts of the province.
The reported arrests come amid broader concerns over arbitrary detention and the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. UNAMA has identified arbitrary arrests and detentions, ill-treatment and violations of detainees’ rights as part of its human rights monitoring work in Afghanistan. In its January–March 2026 update, UNAMA documented at least 336 arbitrary arrests and detentions carried out by Taliban morality-police personnel during the three-month period.
