Taliban movement suspends relief agencies in Shia-populated state of Daykundi

The Taliban terrorist movement has suspended the activities and work of 15 organizations and relief agencies in the Shia-populated Daykundi province in central Afghanistan, due to “pressures” and “blackmails” in favor of the movement.

Local sources said that Aminullah Obaid, who was appointed by the movement as governor of Daykundi state, appointed his nephew as the head of the state’s economy, to “blackmail” the relief agencies and organizations working in the state.

They added that local officials affiliated with Taliban in this state, threaten and insult the members of relief agencies, explaining that the Wali of Taliban threatened the head of the International Organization for Migration in his office and slapped him in the face.

Residents of Daykundi confirmed that the practices of “pressure, blackmail, abuse and humiliation” against employees and officials of relief agencies have prompted 15 relief agencies and organizations to stop their activities in this Shia-populated state since the beginning of this year until now.

Local sources in Daykundi added that relief agencies are forced by Taliban to distribute aids to people belonging to the Pashtun ethnicity, who are not residents of Daykundi which is a predominantly Shia Hazara-populated city.

According to local sources, Taliban sometimes transfers humanitarian aid from Daykundi to other states, including Ghazni, and the latest of these cases is the sale of 30 tons of wheat provided as part of humanitarian aid to a private company, transferring it to Ghazni province.

This comes as Taleban recently closed the “International Aid Mission” Foundation in the city of Lal and Sarjankel in Ghor state, which is inhabited by Shias, and arrested 18 of its employees and transferred them to Kabul.

The relief foundation said that it was working in this city in the field of education and health.

The economic pressures and the prevention of relief organizations from working in Shia-populated areas of Afghanistan refer to a new version of Taliban policies against Afghan Shias, and it is not yet clear how long such policies will last, but their consequences will certainly be disastrous for millions of poor and vulnerable families.