Taliban Says It Has Seized 49 Residential Townships Across 14 Provinces

The Taliban administration’s Ministry of Justice says that over the past four years, 49 residential townships in 14 provinces have been partially or fully taken over, in a move carried out on the orders of the commission on preventing land usurpation and the special court handling cases of seized land.

In a statement on Thursday, Sept. 17, the ministry said the Commission for Preventing Land Usurpation and Restitution of Seized Land had, after beginning its work, reviewed land linked to residential townships in different parts of the country.

According to the Taliban-run Ministry of Justice, these townships are located in the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Maidan Wardak, Kandahar, Helmand, Jawzjan, Samangan, Zabul, Faryab, Baghlan, Parwan and Kunduz.

The Taliban administration did not release further details in the statement about the owners of these townships, the legal basis for the decision, or the fate of the residents or users of these areas.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban has pursued the review and recovery of disputed lands and townships through institutions under its control, a process that has been carried out in various provinces.