Disturbing Accounts Emerge of Taliban Abuses Against Tajik Residents in Sar-e Pol.
Local sources in Sar-e Pol Province report continuing extortion and widespread pressure against residents of Daringak village in Kohistan District.
According to local residents, Mawlawi Akbar Noorzai, a Taliban-affiliated figure originally from Kandahar Province who is currently residing in Dasht-e Laili, Jowzjan Province, has allegedly extorted money from nearly 170 Tajik families in the village over the past five years since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
Residents say their farmland has been inherited from their ancestors for more than a century and serves as the only source of livelihood for these families.
According to village elders, in previous years a number of Pashtun livestock herders from Dasht-e Laili seasonally brought their animals to the mountainous areas of Sar-e Pol for grazing, and local residents temporarily allowed them to use part of their land as a gesture of goodwill.
However, they allege that Mawlawi Akbar Noorzai has used his influence within the Taliban administration to claim ownership of the land without presenting any legal documentation. Residents say that over the past four years he has collected approximately AFN 15 million from villagers. They describe the practice as “systematic land grabbing and organized extortion.”
Residents of Daringak further claim that after villagers were unable or unwilling to pay the demanded sums, armed men affiliated with the Taliban commander attacked the village and destroyed drinking water wells.
According to the sources, last year dozens of villagers’ cattle and sheep were also confiscated by force and transferred to Dasht-e Laili in exchange for a payment of AFN 5 million.
Residents emphasize that the 170 Tajik families of the village have spent the past five years living under constant threats, intimidation, and pressure while being deprived of their right to defend their ancestral properties.
