Taliban: No Political Prisoners Held in Afghanistan’s Prisons

DID Press: Taliban says more than 15,000 people are currently imprisoned in its detention facilities across Afghanistan, but none of them are political prisoners.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, said there are no political prisoners in the group’s prisons and that all detainees are being held on charges related to criminal offenses.

Mujahid said on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at a press briefing in Kabul on the Taliban administration’s achievements that more than 15,000 people are being held in prisons in the capital and Afghanistan’s provinces.

He said he had asked prison officials about the status of detainees and that they had denied the presence of any political prisoners.The Taliban spokesperson claimed that most prisoners in Kabul and other provinces had been detained and imprisoned for committing crimes.

The Taliban’s Prison Affairs Administration also said that more than 15,000 prisoners were held in prisons in Kabul and the provinces during the year 1447 in the Islamic calendar.

The administration also reported that educational, vocational and rehabilitation programs were being provided to some prisoners.