To Besiege the Opposition… “Taliban” Escalates Harassment Operations Against Civilians in Panjshir

Mohamed Yasseri

The Afghan Taliban movement has not forgotten the fate of the opposition factions that sought refuge in the Panjshir province after the former seized power in August 2021. These factions brought with them equipment, weapons, and military supplies, joining the National Resistance in the region’s toughest front against the Taliban’s rise. The province remains a sanctuary for most opposition leaders to this day. The people of the province have not forgotten what they have experienced at the hands of the movement before and after its second takeover, which targeted civilians during its battles against opposition factions. This has led to a strained relationship and resentment among the residents towards the Taliban and its interim government.

Torture and Killing

Less than a year after the Taliban’s seizure of power, reports of systematic violations of human rights in the Panjshir province by Taliban fighters began to emerge. In September 2022, the “National Resistance Front” in the Panjshir Valley released a video showing Taliban fighters executing two groups of men. The victims were seated on a slope with their hands tied behind their backs before they were shot.

The National Resistance Front later revealed the identities of the victims, confirming that they were a group of prisoners who had been hidden by the movement during the fighting in Panjshir following the Taliban’s rise to power a year prior to the incident.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan issued a statement at the time, accusing the Taliban of committing hundreds of human rights violations since taking power.

Continued Repression

On June 9th, Amnesty International issued a statement regarding the ongoing violations of human rights and torture by the Afghan Taliban against civilians in the Panjshir province as collective punishment for accommodating the opposition in the region.

The report revealed that the Taliban targets civilians with torture and extrajudicial killings, as well as arbitrary arrests and intimidation.

The report stated that these practices constitute war crimes against innocent civilians.

According to the report titled “Your Children Are Hiding in the Mountains,” the list of accusations against the Taliban in this regard is extensive.

Annie Shaver-Crandell, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said, “The harsh approach adopted by the Taliban in targeting civilians in Panjshir merely based on suspicion of their affiliation with the National Resistance Front has resulted in tragedies and widespread fear among civilians in the province.”

The resistance factions have accused the Taliban of seizing civilians’ homes, imposing restrictions on shepherds, imposing nighttime curfews in the Panjshir province, and carrying out arbitrary arrests in villages without issuing any charges against the detainees.

Amnesty International called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a mechanism to hold the Taliban accountable for these violations.

Collective Revenge

Mohammed Abadi, an expert in international affairs, states that the Taliban is engaged in collective revenge against the residents of Panjshir. This is a well-known strategy employed by the movement to pressure civilians into abandoning support for opposition factions and to prevent their concentration in the province.

Abadi confirms that the movement’s exclusionary practices are not limited to the Panjshir province alone. It has been widely employed in the selection of members for the interim government, all of whom come exclusively from Taliban leadership without any representation from outside the movement.