Kunduz residents complain of Taliban commander’s cruelty

KUNDUZ CITY (PAN commander who recently surrendered to the government.

Commander Bahro surrendered along with two of his fighters last month in Qala Zal district of the province. According to local officials the former jihadi commander fought against the government for two years.

The commander often beat people and stole their money and possessions, said Ikramuddin, 50, a resident of Qarns village. “When the Taliban controlled this area, commander Bahro entered my house and asked me for 10,000 afghanis, but I had no money to give him. He was beating me when my mother came to release me from him, so he punched my mother,” he said through tears.

The commander took his carpet, which had a value of 15,000 afghanis, he said.

He said the commander victimized people in the area along with dozens of his guards. He also said locals feared being killed if they reported such abuses to the government.

More than 200 of the district’s people gathered in a mosque to ask the government to hear their complaints against the commander.

“When the commadner Bahro was loyal to Taliban, he took our money and carpets, so I left my village and came to the district centre,” one of the participants of the gathering, Nadar Shah, said. “He should return the goods of people, if he took them.”

But commander Bahro denied the allegations. He said he was ready to answer any complaint against him.

He joined the government in order to bring peace to the area and to serve his country, he said.

It was illegal to travel with more than 10 guards in the district bazaar, the district chief said, and so the government should investigate claims that Bahro travelled with dozens of guards.

The commanders who join the peace process have the right to defend themselves, including Bahro, said Asadullah Omakhel, head of the Kunduz Peace Council.  

For the past eight months, more than 400 militants, including dozens of their commanders, have joined the peace process in the province.

More than 1,500 tribal militia soldiers have been appointed to posts in different branches of the government.

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