On Wednesday July 15, a group of Taliban preachers in Imaam Abou Haniffa Mosque located in Khair Khana announced that they would prepare a register of all the people attending that mosque. They will read the list five times every day to make sure every one is present at the prayer time. They would also go to every house in that area and punish the people who had not attended the mosque. They also added that if someone says “Subhan Allah” a hundred times each day he will have a full stomach and proper clothes for the next three days.

On 20th July 1998 Taliban conducted a house to house search for televisions, VCRs, dish antennas, tape recorders and cassettes. Taliban’s women folk were also participating in the search. While searching a house in block 14 of third Macroryns, these female Taliban stole 40,000 Rupees (Pakistani) from a family. A woman of the family complained that the female Taliban had stolen her money. However the Taliban started beating her up and were saying to her “you have no shame, accusing angels”. According to eye witnesses these “angels” are involved in robberies all over the city of Kabul. The thefts and robberies are so common that the Taliban have been forced to make radio announcements and blame the crimes on people impersonating Taliban.

While I was in Kabul, yet another tragic event took place in Kart-e-Now area of the city. A teacher, who was well known in the area, brought his three children to the local mosque during evening prayer and asked the people there to adopt his children and relieve him of the pain of not being able to feed them. People gathered some money for him, but he refused and said “with this money I could feed them for another week, what would I do after that” and begged them to adopt his children or at least feed them because they might die of hunger. That evening he went home alone and had a heart attack and a stroke that same night. Although his wife comforted him and assured him that they would get their children back by tomorrow, the bereaved teacher could not survive and died of sadness. 

The day after the American rocket attacks on Afghanistan, around a thousand Taliban under the name of university students started a demonstration in Kabul, Even though the number of students that were Talibs were not more than ten. Cars full of Taliban were shouting slogans against America, Clinton, Iran, Khomenei, Rafsanjani and… However, ordinary people used the opportunity of the chaotic situation and shouted slogans against Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif, which naturally annoyed Taliban.

Taliban also forced Hazaras to make demonstrations against Iran and America. A taxi driver who was driving by the demonstrations shared his opinion as follow: 

“Why should Afghans defend Laden? Laden’s money is spent on Datsuns that are marks of murders and tyrannies. Laden spends his money on Taliban’s war. He is helping Taliban who are committing the most dreadful crimes on Afghan people. How could someone defend Laden and call himself an Afghan?”

Some university students’ opinion about the rocket attack:

“Our people view this conflict between Taliban and the US as a husband and wife quarrel. Or, the master is rebuking his servants for supporting another servant who has rebelled against the master. In the meantime, Mulla Omar is using the situation, and by making these noises wants to convince people of his independence from the US!”

“Mulla Omar is supporting Osama bin Laden because Osama has given him his daughter for marriage and he is also spending a lot of money on Taliban. Mulla Omar prefers his dear Arab father-in-law over his suffered nation”

“Like Gulbuddin and his allies, Laden is a pet dog for the US, and the US doesn’t need Cruise Missiles to reprimand him. The Americans can as easily get rid of Laden as they disposed of Gulbuddin and companions. The rocket attacks were just for the benefit of distracting American people away from Clinton’s moral scandals. In addition, the US wanted to tell the world that they are the only super power and they will do whatever they want to”

“A few days after the rocket attack Taliban signed a $250 million communication deal with the Americans. What does it tell you, that the husband and wife had a fight and fools took it seriously.”

Some Islamic subjects added to normal University subjects during the Jehadi government include Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic traditions and commentary on Quran. Students are bound to become knowledgeable in these subjects prior to other subjects. The teacher of Islamic studies in the department of engineering asked his students to avoid speaking in Dari, and made them to promise to pray five times a day, avoid touching their beards and hairs, and keep them according to Sharia, not to violate others wives and property, be truthful and promise to fight to the last against communists and infidels. He also warned students that if they do not attend his classes they will be suspended. Finally he added that shaving one’s beard is like cutting the chest of Prophet Mohammad with a blade!

On 26th June 1998, a letter was read to the Engineering students. In the letter students were warned against political discussions or discussing the country’s situation, and anyone found not following this rule will be punished.

Friends told me that Mariam high school in Kabul is becoming one of the busiest markets in the city, where women and girls are going for their shopping. I decided to visit the market. On the way I had to pass the 11th Houza (Police station). In front of the main gate of the police station a few Taliban, while leaning their guns against the wall, were lounging on the chairs they had brought out of the offices, and were watching the people with their bloody eyes and long hairs and beards. A few steps further, broken video and audio cassettes and televisions were hanging from a trees. In the market of the High school an ice cream seller was beaten up by Taliban for selling ice cream to women and girls. Members of Ministry of Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice (amro bil mahroof) will beat and whip women caught eating ice cream.

On 23 August members of Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice were searching the shops, and implemented Sharia in the Mariam high school market. A woman, with her burqa (veil) pulled up, was talking to a shopkeeper. Taliban started beating the women and were calling her names for not being accompanied by her Mahram (close male family member) and not covering her face. While shaking from pain and anger and not being able to stand properly, the women took her burqa off and throw it away. Being enraged and disgusted she shouted and abused the Taliban and Mullah Omar, calling them gutless and lackeys to Pakistanis. She was cursing their law and Sharia, and swore by Quran not to wear the burqa  again. The woman was so enraged that she cursed Kabul’s women for putting up with their miseries.

The Taliban surprised by the sudden rage of the woman hastily retreated and left the shop and the woman in her pain and suffering.

For several days a group of Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice was patrolling the high school market from 11 am to 6 pm, and were beating any woman that they saw there. They even tried to make the market for men only.

On 3rd December 1997 a conference under supervision of head of Kabul’s medical Institute, Maulawi Fazel Khan, was organized where a number of illiterate and ignorant mullas delivered speeches. One of them, minister of higher education, had the following to say, “A medical student is responsible to study religion as much as he studies medicine, and if he wants to be an intelligent doctor he has to study religion even more. If a patient goes to a doctor, he should immediately know what verse will cure his soul. We and our people don’t need a doctor who is ignorant of religion.”

In intersection of Hese Awal area of Khair Khan, there is a shoe mending shop next to which sits a woman beggar. On 6th November 1998 two Taliban youths entered the shop. While obnoxiously looking at the woman, who is wearing her veil only over her head, they asked her “your pockets seems full of money” the woman beggar responded “which pockets?” the Talib thugs pointed to her breasts and said “those pockets”. Saying that, they started laughing loudly.

On 9th Aughust I was travelling from Neemroz to Kandahar. There were 18 passengers in the bus, 9 of which were Pakistanis. They were speaking Pashto and were respectfully treated by Taliban along the way. When we reached Shor Abak where the passengers got off the Pakistanis started speaking in Urdu language.

When Taliban took the power in Kabul, a number of Pakistani spies (similar to Russian advisers during Purchami and Khalqi regimes) entered the city under the guise of religious preachers. They positioned themselves in busy mosques around the city, and generally, they are carrying out the following three activities 1- preaching and recruiting for Wahabite sect, 2- Degrading the religious people of Kabul, 3- investigating families especially about their adult male members.

Also, they are duty bound to send people into mosque for morning and evening prayers.

These so called preachers go to people’s houses before morning and evening prayers in groups of five or six accompanied by a Taliban youth as guide. In each house, they ask for a male member of the house. After a short and brief speech on Islamic values they turn to Pakistan’s and Iran’s politics toward Afghanistan, and, make Pakistan appear as innocent and clean. After they “convert” that man, in their terms, to a Muslim, they ask for another man in the house. At the same time, they stop any educated or elderly person passing by and preach them too.

On 3rd August 1998 in Hazrat Ali Mosque located in Khair Khana these spies were “preaching” after the evening prayer when one of them slapped a young man while talking to him. Because armed Taliban were inside the mosque, the young man could not retaliate, however tears ran down his eyes. He asked what right did a Punjabi from Pakistan have to slap him.

People saw the incident and their anger against such degrading treatment deepened.

The next day after morning prayer, people were in the mosque’s compound and were leaving the mosque, when the Pakistani spies stopped a few elders. The elders, frustrated with their preachings, told them to go back to Pakistan and clean up the corruption and wickedness in their own backyard. One of the Pakistani spies responded “the Prophet has said that you should preach where ever you could.” Enraged, an elder started insulting and abusing the Prophet. The Pakistani spies were shocked by the turn of events, and could not respond. People immediately took the elder out of the mosque lest the Taliban got there and harm him.

Two building blocks in Macrorayan area were allocated for girls’ education. A large number of girls were attending these schools, covered in their veils. The anti education and anti women Taliban could not tolerate the situation, and on 19th June 1998 at around 9 am surrounded one of the blocks and started knocking on the doors. Scared, the girls asked their teachers what to do. The teachers who were scared as well, told them to calm down and see what happens. Taliban finally broke the doors and entered into the classes. The students escaped any way they could, But the defenseless teachers were beaten and they had to listen to their abuses and insulting words. They smashed everything, breaking all the chairs and equipment. Nobody came to the school after this incident.

During the massacres in Mazar city, Taliban entered a house beyond the customs office. The house belonged to three brothers from Hazara ethnicity who were living there with their wives and children. The three brothers submitted their weapons to the Taliban and received the required documents after which the Taliban left the house. A few minutes later the Taliban returned to the house and after searching it they discovered another weapon. The Taliban viciously beat the three brothers and after taking them out of their house, they murdered them in front of their family members, and warned them not to touch the bodies. Later at night, their wives with the help of an elderly neighbor moved the bodies into the house and buried them in the backyard. A few days later, the wives asked the neighbors to help them put more soil over the grave since the smell from the bodies had made living in the house impossible.

On 27th December 1997 Yousof-Bai’s son, a commander in the Haji Habib brigade, was killed. Yousof-Bai accused an Arab family, well known as  Jamali Tribe, for the murder of his son. Except for a seventy-year-old father of the family, Yousof-Bai imprisoned every one of them. On the first night, he slashes the bodies of two young men in the family and put salt on their wounds. Not satiated with this, Yousof-Bai took the two men in front of other prisoners and hacked them to pieces.

A few days later Yousof-Bai’s brother Sediq-Bai returned from a trip, and ordered his soldiers to bring all the property belonging to the Jamali Tribe to their garrison.

Now all that is left of the Jamali Tribe is a seventy year old father who is begging. This from a tribe which was well known for their property and live stock all over the Sholgara area.

On Block 31 of Makrooyan 3, in July of 1998 the husband of a young woman (name withheld) died of an illness. After a few days, one of her husband's friends, who had a good relationship with the Taliban, started visiting her under the pretext of sympathy. These visits ended up in overnight stays until they were both arrested. The young woman was in custody for 15 days; and during this period she was raped a few times by the personnel. Nothing is known, however, of what happened to the man.

On 11th August 1998 in Ali Chopaan locality in Mazar-e-Sharif Province, three Taliban entered a house to conduct search. The house belongs to a mother from Hazara ethnicity who lives there with her two young daughters. The mother beseeched the Taliban for mercy and told them that her husband and son are innocent and wrongly imprisoned and begged for their freedom. However, the Taliban raped the two daughters in front of their mother, and told her if she dared to mention a word of this incident to any one, they would kill her husband and son in the prison. Finally before leaving the area, to deceive the women, they give her a piece of paper and told her to take the paper to the prison and they would free her husband and son.

On 27th August 1998 Taliban entered a school in Hairataan area in Mazar-e-Sahrif and they arrested the security guard of the school, who is a 65 year old man belonging to Hazara ethnicity, without asking who he is or tell him what his crime was. They drove the old man to the bridge which connects Hairataan to Uzbekistan and threw him to the Amou River. As he knew how to swim, he got himself back to shore, but the Taliban who were watching from the bridge fired on him and the old man, who didn’t have a family, was hit and died there on the shore.

On Monday 10th August 1998 Taliban shot a person belonging to Hazara ethnicity in Karta Sulha in Mazar-e-Sharif. His body was laying there for 24 hours where one side of the body was eaten by the dogs. Later the body was dragged to the street of Karta Sulha in front of the local people and a Datsun car was driven over the boy. This caused the body to separate into two halves and produced an appalling view.

Taliban belonging to Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice were driving pass a bicycle when they noticed that the rider was singing to himself. They immediately arrested the bicycle rider and took him to their headquarters. They reported to their head that the person was riding bicycle and was singing to himself. Their officer ordered them “go and check whether his bicycle has a bell” a Talib checks and confirms that the bicycle did not have a bell. Their officer told them “ let him go, he was singing without music, he was clearly singing a Naht for the Prophet.”

During the Taliban attack on Mazar city, they entered into educational institutions and committed all sorts of obscenities. One of the armed groups entered Mazar’s institute of pedagogy and turned it to a military base for themselves. The group, which is commanded by Mulla Din Mohammad, entered the library of the institute and after tearing and stamping over the books, they pile all the books together and then, “the army of God” urinates on the books which always begin with the first verse of Quran. This fact is discovered later when the students returned to clean up their institute.

After the capture of Mazar city by Taliban, they appoint an illiterate person by the name of Mulla Shah Mohammad in charge of Dehdadi municipality. Mullah Shah Mohammad asked the clerk of the municipality to order a stamp to seal the day to day paper work of the municipality. The clerk immediately asked the local stamp engraver to make a stamp for the municipality. When Mulla Shah Mohammad finally saw the stamp, he got very angry and said “look at this large municipality and look at that small stamp, go and make a big stamp”. The clerk went back to the stamp engraver and said to him that the mayor is asking for a big stamp. The stamp maker gathers that he is dealing with a complete moron so he made the stamp from a donkey shoe upon which he scribed:

In a city where asses are in-charge Shah Mohammed will be, of course, the city mayor.

When Mulla Shah Mohammad saw the new stamp smiled and said, “look, this is a good stamp”. A few days later when he noticed the inscription, he went after the stamp maker, however by then, the stamp maker had fled from the town, yet the official documents with the new seal had reached the governor’s office!

On Thursday 2nd June 1998 around 10:20 am a number of Amro Bil Mahroof’s members entered Kabul University, and started beating and insulting people for one or another reason. They even cut the hairs 60 of and 70-year old University lecturers while they were abusing and insulting them.

Mazar-Khulm highway is controlled by the furry Bamianchies, and is one of the most unsafe Highways of the North. Burglars usually hid in foxholes every few Kilometres, and when a car gets very close they force it to stop and ask for money. Woe betides a driver who refuses to pay. Recently, they ask the passengers to pay as well. They bring snakes and scorpions with them and if anyone refuses to pay, they torment him with their snakes and scorpion, and force him to pay.