Guess what? Taliban officials have detained a social media influencer and former member of the security forces in the previous government from districts 5 and 11 of Kabul.
Tell me more: Taliban arrested a former intelligence operative who has been a resident of Kabul from district 3 of Kabul city.
- He has been identified as Abdul Rahim and originally is from Dare Abdullah Khel area of Panjshir province. The Taliban arrested the former member of the security forces of Afghanistan on Thursday.
Meanwhile, according to local sources, Taliban members also arrested Imran Ahmadzai a social media influencer from his home in district 12 of Kabul.
- According to sources in Kabul, Ahmadzai had been arrested by the Taliban forces on February 12.
- The Taliban forces have told Ahmadzai’s family that he has been arrested due to spreading anti-Taliban propaganda.
Take note: Ahmadzai maintains an active page on Facebook with 23,327 followers. He last posted a video of people running on a Kabul Street with a caption of ‘go towards turkey’ on his Facebook page on February 8.
Back story: On February 8, hundreds of Afghan citizens rushed to the Kabul airport, after there were rumours that the Taliban were sending Afghans to Turkiye. Taliban members had violently engaged with the people and scattered them with aerial shots.
- Meanwhile, on February 16, Abdul Haq Hemad, director of media oversight at the Taliban’s ministry of information and culture confirmed that the Taliban has arrested people who have been suspected of spreading rumors about transfer of Afghans to Turkiye.
- While Hemad didn’t provide details about the arrested people, it seems that Ahmadzai might have been one of these people arrested by the Taliban on charges of spreading rumors about Turkiye.
The big picture: Taliban continue to arrest Afghan citizens who have been active on social media, and/or with work background in the previous Afghan government. These arrests particularly from the security forces have been mainly focused on Tajiks and Hazara ethnic groups.
- After the fall of the republic order on August 15, 2021, hundreds of former soldiers who have been unable to leave the country have been arrested, tortured, and even killed by the Taliban.
- Several audio tapes and a list of ex-soldiers, most of whom are abroad, have been circulating on social media, that talks about Taliban’s attempts to arrest former members of ANDSF.
