Twelve Taliban officials in Ghor province have been fired from their jobs after being found guilty of various crimes including extortion, abuse of power and drug addiction.
According to a document seen by Amu TV, among those dismissed were a district governor Sher Ahmad Asiri; intelligence director Burhanuddin Taha; and police commander Qari Abdul Raouf for the Lal wa Sarjangal district.
The Taliban’s ranks clearance commission dismissed them on charges of extortion and abuse of authority.
Other Taliban members were fired for being drug addicts, having worked for the former government and for stirring dissent among the ranks of the group.
According to sources, the “extortionists” had ignored the plight of poverty-stricken residents and had been extorting money under the pretext of collecting traditional Islamic tax; Usher and Zakat, in a number of Ghor districts.
One resident of Lal wa Sarjangal, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The sector director of the district named Haidar Sharifi distributed $400 in cash aid from an organization; 50-50 between himself and the vulnerable people and then he used to share the money with high-ranking officials in the district.”
According to a source, the district leaders were ordering aid organizations to employ their relatives.
Meanwhile, another source in Lal wa Sarjangal district, who did not want to be named in this report, told Amu TV that the Taliban in this district still collects a large amount of money from each family under the guise of Usher and Zakat.
“They collect a huge amount of money from the people under the name Usher and Zakat. They used to get a lot of money from potato storages. They collected 30,000 Afghanis ($335) from each potato cold storage and 300 to 500 Afghanis from each household, and it went to the district governor’s pocket,” he added.
Reports have also emerged that anyone who complained or ignored their orders would be beaten up, detained and tortured.
The Taliban’s ranks clearance commission dismissed the officials after receiving numerous complaints about the abuse of authority. However, despite the dismissals, there are still reports of extortion taking place.
