KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban have arrested two religious scholars who had publicly criticized their leadership, sources told Amu on Wednesday.
The clerics, Mahmood Hasan and Abdul Qadir Qanit, were detained on Tuesday, Jan. 28, a day after they voiced strong opposition to the concentration of power among Taliban leaders from Kandahar during a gathering in Kabul.
Hasan, a former head of the Taliban’s Hajj and Religious Affairs Directorate in Panjshir, had called for an end to what he described as the Taliban’s power monopoly in Kandahar.
Qanit, who had previously been arrested by the Taliban in October, was released after at least two days in detention.
Family members of both men confirmed to Amu TV that they were taken into custody by Taliban on Tuesday.
The arrests come amid growing concerns that the Taliban have been suppressing dissent by silencing critics and detaining those who challenge their rule.
