“They Hit Me With a Rifle Butt and Said I Was Intoxicated”; A Bloody Night for a Young Man in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Local sources in Mazar-e-Sharif report continued harsh nighttime conduct by Taliban urban security forces.
According to residents, they have grown deeply frustrated with what they describe as “humiliating and violent behavior” by Taliban security personnel at night checkpoints. Some checkpoints reportedly involve armed intimidation and aggressive treatment — a situation citizens say has intensified fear and distrust across the city.
One resident, who requested anonymity due to security concerns, said that on the previous evening he had delivered money to a friend whose mother was ill. After leaving the house and heading back, he encountered a Taliban checkpoint near Zabihullah Shaheed Square.
He alleges that stationed forces stopped him, struck him in the back with a rifle butt, and forcibly pulled him out of his vehicle at gunpoint.
According to his account, despite being in a normal condition, he was accused of being “intoxicated,” and when he protested, he was met with punches and further blows.
The source stated that the confrontation only ended after mediation by an elderly bystander present at the scene. He emphasized that such behavior — particularly toward young people who, in his words, “have committed no crime” — has heightened public anxiety.
Local sources further claim that Taliban authorities in Balkh Province have so far failed to curb what they describe as inappropriate and abusive conduct by security forces within the city.
