What happened? Reports indicate that the Taliban have arrested at least five civilians of different backgrounds in Kabul and other provinces.
Go deeper: In the latest case, family members of a former jihadi commander, Abdul Ghaffar Moradi, confirmed that he has been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the National Resistance Front (NRF), an anti-Taliban armed group.
- The commander has been arrested after a flag with an NRF logo had been hoisted in Dare Zindan village of Aybak city, the center of Samangan province.
- Moradi has been in Taliban’s detention since February 10 and has been tortured.
In another case, the Taliban has arrested Pashto writer, Ismail Rahmani, in Kabul. Rahmani has been a religious scholar and an active citizen on social media outlets.
- The Taliban intelligence forces arrested Rahmani on Saturday.
- It is not clear why Rahmani has been arrested and his location has been unknown.
Between the lines: The Taliban have arrested two former officers of the former Afghan National Army from Kabul.
- Farida Agha Saydkheli, the former commander of Afghan National Army (ANA) brigade in Baghlan, and Parwiz Sayedkheli another junior commander in ANA in Baghlan had been arrested by Taliban’s counter-terrorism forces on February 11.
- The two commanders had been arrested while they were on the road in district 17 of Kabul city.
- Both the former army commanders had been living in Kabul as civilians and under the general amnesty of the Taliban.
Take note: In mid-January, the Taliban arrested singer, Mosa Shahin from district 17 in Kabul. Shahin’s relatives have said that around 15 armed Taliban members entered their house in Kabul and arrested the singer whose fate is not clear.
Zoom out: The arbitrary arrests of Afghans who live civilian lives under the Taliban has been the trend of the past one-and-a-half-year reign of the group in Afghanistan. This trend is deteriorating as the Taliban has been increasingly challenged by resistance groups and the terrorist Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K).
