The Taliban has detained a former politician, a journalist, and a filmmaker in recent days across Afghanistan, according to their relatives.
The detentions mark a sharp escalation of the extremist group’s crackdown on dissent, a violent campaign that has targeted reporters, activists, and political figures.
The latest target of the clampdown was Sayyed Rahim Saeedi, a television producer and filmmaker based in the capital, Kabul.
Relatives of Saeedi, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that members of the General Directorate of Intelligence, the Taliban’s notorious intelligence agency, detained him and his son on July 20.
His son was freed on July 21, the relatives said.
It was not clear why they were detained. The filmmaker’s whereabouts remain unknown, and the Taliban has not commented on his detention.
Meanwhile, the Taliban detained Rohullah Rauf, the former head of the provincial council in the northeastern province of Takhar, a source close to him who spoke on condition of anonymity told Radio Azadi.
The source said Rauf was detained by the Taliban after returning home from Friday Prayers on July 19. It was unclear why he was detained, the source said.
Mowloda Tawana, an Afghan rights campaigner, said Rauf’s detention showed that the Taliban was not committed to the amnesty that it announced shortly after seizing power in 2021.
The blanket amnesty included all Afghan officials, security forces, and individuals who cooperated with the departed U.S.-led military presence in Afghanistan.
But international rights watchdogs and the United Nations have documented widespread cases of retribution — including extrajudicial killings and torture.
Meanwhile, freelance journalist Mohammadyar Majrooh was detained by the Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar, according to his relatives.
Relatives of Majrooh said the reporter was detained on July 12. His whereabouts are unknown, they said.
Majrooh was previously detained in February 2023 while working on a report for the private Tolo News channel.
In a statement issued on July 17, the Afghanistan Journalists Center, a local media watchdog, demanded that Majrooh be released “without further delay and without conditions.”
Hamid Obaidi, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization, another media watchdog, said the “illegal detentions and harassment of journalists violate the freedom of speech.”
“We strongly condemn these detentions,” Obaidi told Radio Azadi.
The Taliban’s intelligence agency did not respond to Radio Azadi’s requests for comment about the recent detentions.
Since its takeover in August 2021, the Taliban has detained and jailed scores of journalists, activists, and academics for publicly opposing its repressive policies.
Hundreds of Afghan journalists have fled their homeland because of intimidation or for fear of persecution. The Taliban has banned several international broadcasters and denied visas to foreign journalists.
As part of its assault on dissent, the militant group has also clamped down on political parties and local nongovernmental organizations. The Taliban banned all political groups and NGOs last year.
