What is happening in front of people’s eyes but hidden from the world in Afghanistan?

In these two and a half years since coming to power, the Taliban has not refrained from committing all sorts of crimes and cruelty against the people of Afghanistan. Besides the hellish situation they created, the Taliban have continued the process of arresting their opponents openly and covertly with impunity.

Lately, dispossessed workers have also been experiencing the same oppression. The Taliban have started arresting peddlers, beggars, and handcart drivers. Because of the nature of the Taliban, there are many probable motives.

My brother had just graduated from university when the Taliban came to power. Due to the closure of the majority of private corporations, institutions, schools, educational centers, and government offices becoming the den of the Taliban, he has not been able to find a job until now. Due to unemployment, he has to wait all day with my other brothers in the crowded Kabul markets, so a market patron needs their services of carrying their bought goods with a handcart and earning a small living.

Along with the unemployment, lack of money, and desperation that have Inflicted the people of Afghanistan, especially the unemployed youth, the Taliban are harassing them with various excuses, rubbing salt in the wound.

A few days ago, my brothers went to the market with their carts as usual. It was around evening when the Taliban entered the Bazar with their cars and arrested the peddlers, beggars, and handcard drivers of all ages, the elderly, the young, and children, without any cause or question and threw them into the car. My brother, one of the same workers whose only crime was being in poverty, was also arrested, and this is now many nights that there is no news of my brother.

Because my other brother had escaped the clashes with the Taliban that day, he could let the family know that their son was taken. I’m constantly thinking of the fact that most of those workers, especially the beggar children and peddlers, whose families are unaware of the arrest and how worried they are about their children missing.

For several days, my elderly parents have been going outside the prison and waiting until night to find out any news about their child from inside the prison. My parents said that outside the prison was another view of the terrible and tragic disaster that befell the people of Afghanistan. Everyone with loved ones inside the prison was crying out loud about what crime their children and loved ones committed to be taken. However, the crowd always faced threats and violence from Taliban soldiers. My parents said that in these four days, four children’s bodies were taken out of the prison. It is not known whether these children died due to cardiac arrest, torture, or sexual assault, and no one dares to raise their voices.

According to the fascist, oppressive, and terrorist nature of the Taliban, they may want to pretend that the level of poverty and unemployment has decreased by arresting and threatening these workers. Also, the Taliban want to collect taxes, rent, and fees from shopkeepers to pay for the employment of their employees and soldiers. So, the Taliban is planning to provide government stalls for these peddlers and cart drivers so that they have to pay taxes and rent without being harassed and their dignity trampled by the regime.

By arresting and holding these workers hostage, the Taliban want to ransom money from the international community. The critical issue is that the Taliban are afraid of bombing and assassination attacks by other groups being carried out by peddlers and child beggars based on the last twenty years of experience orchestrating similar terrorist attacks themselves. So, they are fingerprinting workers to identify other groups doing similar attacks in the previous two years. Apart from that, the Taliban has a list of their opponents, which includes employees and soldiers of the previous government, members and affiliates of the resistance front, ISIS members, and others that they want to find through this incarceration process.

Meanwhile, these incidents have not been covered by the news media at all, and the Taliban continue their crimes with impunity.