8am: Sources in Balkh have expressed serious concern over widespread bribery and extortion at the Road Transport Regulation Directorate under Taliban control in the province. They say that certain individuals, in collusion with the Taliban, are placing heavy pressure on people who visit the directorate to complete their official paperwork. According to the sources, these individuals use various pretexts to squeeze money out of companies, trade-union representatives, and drivers of both heavy and light cargo vehicles, applying pressure in a range of forms.
Citizens of the country have repeatedly complained that, despite the Taliban’s claims of fighting administrative corruption, many members of the group are themselves involved in administrative and financial corruption, and that they abuse their positions and authority to facilitate extortion and bribery in various forms.