KABUL, Afghanistan — A shopkeeper in the Panjshir province of central Afghanistan claims he was detained and tortured by Taliban members after attempting to collect a debt.
The shopkeeper, a resident of Bazarak district, operated a grocery store in a local market. According to his account, several Taliban members had borrowed 300,000 Afghanis (approximately $3,400) worth of goods from him. But when he attempted to recover the money, he says, he was accused of “opposing the regime,” dragged from his shop, taken to an undisclosed location, and beaten.
“They took goods worth two or three lakh [hundred thousand] Afghanis from me,” he said. “When I asked for my money, they threw me out of my shop, accused me of being against the system, and took me away. They tortured me, beat me, and whipped me.”
Visible marks on his body, he says, are evidence of the alleged abuse. Fearing for his safety, he has since closed his shop and fled to Kabul.
Taliban have not publicly commented on the allegation.