Two former commanders of Afghanistan’s national army under the republic government were arrested by the Taliban in Kabul’s Police District 17 on Monday, sources confirmed on Wednesday.
The two arrested include Farid Sayed Khilil, a former army regiment commander for Baghlan and Parwiz Sayedkhili, former battalion commander for the same regiment.
Three sources from former officials in Parwan province, north of Kabul, who wished not to be named, said the two were arrested when they were on the way to Kabul from Parwan.
The sources said that Sayedkhili has been wounded in Taliban firing during their arrest.
One source said that Farid Sayedkhili, a battalion commander for Pamir 217 Corps under the previous government, was arrested when Taliban opened fire on his vehicle and then detained him.
Two more security force members from the previous government were also arrested recently, a source said, who added that he could not name the people detained.
Taliban’s spokesman for the interior ministry, Khalid Zadran, did not respond to a message about the arrest of the two former security force members.
Taliban announced a “general amnesty” after taking over Afghanistan in August 2021 and assured that former government officials and security force members will not be targeted by the group, but there are many reports about killing and arrest of former ANDSF personnel and government employees over the past 18 months.
On Feb. 2, a former member of Afghan army’s special unit, said in an interview with Amu that he spent nine months under Taliban custody, during which he was “tortured and abused.”
Human Rights Watch in a report said that the Taliban killed over 100 members of security forces in the first three months of the group’s rule in Afghanistan.
UN in a report said that over 160 extrajudicial killings of former security force members and government officials happened in Afghanistan under the Taliban in the first six months of their rule. Taliban has rejected these reports as baseless.
