8am: Abdullah (pseudonym) is one of the residents of the fourth security district of Kabul City. Speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, he says that the Taliban exploited some women associated with them for extorting detained individuals. Abdullah states: “Some Taliban checkpoint commanders, especially in the fourth security district, gather information about individuals beforehand, and
8am: The George W. Bush Institute, led by the former US President, has uncovered the involvement of Taliban members in extensive financial corruption and also identified the influential role of foreign actors in sustaining the financial corruption of this group. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The source adds, “The increase in corruption among the officials of the [Taliban] emirate has become a tradition, and every individual, even if they hold a minimal position or authority, has enriched themselves through their means. From ministers to local officials at the provincial and district levels, where in my view corruption is more
8am: Local sources in Kunduz province report that the Taliban are paying monthly salaries to individuals who supported their fighters during the conflict with the previous government’s security forces by providing shelter and food. Sources on Sunday, April 28, confirm that the Taliban have submitted the list of these individuals to their authorities and are
8am: Some residents of Khost Province, in a protest gathering in front of the Directorate of Public Health of this province, have accused Taliban officials of administrative corruption, abuse of authority, and theft. Protesters claim that the Khost Directorate of Public Health, under Taliban control, has taken cash payments of 500 Afghanis from at least
Afghanistan International: Led by Amrullah Saleh, former Vice-President of Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s Green Trend (AGT) has disclosed substantial discrepancies in the Taliban’s military roster, highlighting the prevalence of “ghost soldiers” within their ranks. AGT’s recent publication reveals that out of the reported 173,000 personnel in the Taliban’s military forces, approximately 100,000 are classified as ghost soldiers.
Sima Samar via Ms. Magazine: The Taliban that now rules Afghanistan is the same extremist entity that revoked the basic human rights of Afghanistan’s women and girls and minorities when they were last in power in the 1990s. And now, they have done it again. I didn’t think that I would see history repeat itself
8am: Last Thursday, the Taliban’s Supreme Court announced that they had executed two individuals publicly on charges of murder at the Ghazni football stadium. The public execution of these two individuals, witnessed by thousands, has provoked widespread domestic and international reactions. However, findings from the Hasht-e Subh Daily indicate that the public execution of one
8am: Local sources from Kabul and northern provinces report a surge in Taliban detentions of both former government military personnel and civilians. Dozens of individuals have been detained in recent weeks across these provinces and taken to undisclosed locations. The Taliban allegedly detain these individuals on various pretexts and release them upon payment or the
FP: A drug kingpin whose heroin empire helped fund the Taliban’s long war in Afghanistan—and who was released early from a U.S. prison in a trade for an American hostage—has now gone into business with China. Bashir Noorzai, a close friend of the extremists’ supreme leader, has set up murky joint-venture deals with Chinese firms