By Ziba Balkhi
Taliban authorities claim that they’ve eradicated street crime in Afghanistan since returning to power.
But Rahima and other residents in Balkh province feel that crime is on the rise.
Rahima’s been robbed twice in four months in Balkh’s capital Mazar-e-Sharif. Adding to her distress is police refused to hear her complaint until she brought a male chaperone to the police station.
The 28-year-old was first robbed at gunpoint four months ago.
“It was 2.00pm in the afternoon at Mokhaberat area. Though it is in the middle of the city and full of people and a short distance from police district 3, the thief took both my handbag and the phone because he was armed. I couldn’t do anything to stop him,” Rahima says.
Then a second robbery occurred a week ago. Armed motorcycle-riders stole Rahima’s new phone in the Mawla Ali area of the 7th district, near the Taliban’s police district area.
“It was at 3pm when one of my friends called me. I was talking with her when a motorcyclist grabbed my phone from my hand and quickly left,” Rahima says.
“Twice I went to the police district to complain. They did not allow me to enter without a male chaperone, but even when I took a chaperone with me, unfortunately, I didn’t get any positive results.”
“We can’t travel inside the city without fear anymore. Both times the thieves stole my phone, they were armed and in crowded streets.”
Turned away at the police gate
When the Taliban took power in August 2021, street robberies and petty crimes were on the rise in cities across Afghanistan.
The group seeks to eradicate the problem with severe punishments meted out to those found guilty. Several people charged with robbery have been executed and their bodies left on display in public streets to serve as a deterrent.
But residents in Balkh say crime is increasing again.
To Rahima, women are victims twice over because Taliban security institutions make it more complicated for them to report and register their cases.
“Police District 7 was very close to the area where my phone was stolen. I saw the thief go down the same road as the police office on his motorcycle. I also went to the police quickly because I thought if it wasn’t too long [after the incident] maybe they could find my phone. But when I went, a Talib at the gate told me that, “You have no right to go inside. Go and bring your brother or father – they should share your problem with us,” she says.
Rahima gave up trying to locate her stolen belongings.
“Why should men and women be treated differently in the provision of security? Are we not from this city and homeland? This neglect makes it easy for thieves to steal from us girls,” she says.
Rising crime adding to mental pressure for women
Mazar-e-Sharif resident Nabila* had her phone stolen by thieves in Mazar-e-Sharif’s Kart-e-Solh area about eight months ago.
The 26-year-old was on her way to work when a motorcyclist snatched her phone while she was walking.
“I was on the sidewalk walking towards my duty station when a motorcycle rider stopped beside me. He put his hand on my handbag, I grabbed it tightly and screamed for someone to help me, but no one came,” she says.
“The thief turned on his motorcycle and I was dragged to the ground behind his motorcycle because I was holding the bag’s strap. I resisted a lot, but no one came to help me, and the strap torn off, and the thief managed to take the bag and the phone.”
Nabila says the incident has added to her fear of being outside.
“With the restrictions already imposed on women, we do not have mental and psychological security,” she says. “At least they [the Taliban] should ensure the security of our lives.”
Security claim is ‘lip service’
Mubina*, 20, went to the Police District 2 to file a complaint after her phone was stolen near the Taliban checkpoint, but she was not allowed inside to report the incident.
She says the robbery happened two months ago when she was returning home to Mazar-e-Sharif’s Kart-e-Bakhtar area around 11.00am.
“I had my phone in my hand to call my mother when a person riding a motorcycle came with his face covered with a handkerchief. He quickly took the phone from my hand and left. In that moment I had no reaction – I was too shocked. I had just bought my phone a month earlier,” Mubina says.
Mubina’s attempt to report the matter to her local police was dismissed until she returned with a male chaperone.
“On one hand, the robbery impacted me. But on the other hand, the behavior of the Taliban police, who ignored what happened to me, also impacted me,” she says.
Mubina believes the claim that the Taliban is providing security is lip service.
“The thieves are stealing in broad daylight, and when we women go to their security institutions to complain and are not allowed, this clearly shows how much the Taliban are unable to prevent criminal offenses and cannot provide security,” she says. “They make excuses because of our gender.”
Taliban forces not trained in policing
Mohammad Naser Mirwais*, a defense lawyer and a former professor at the faculty of law and political science at a private university in Balkh, believes that Taliban forces are not trained to deal with crime.
“The reason for the rise in thefts under the Taliban regime is that their forces do not have the right security measures, they do not have the right professionals, they cannot solve the problems of the people and they do not have the capacity. Their personnel are few and they are not serious and professional.”
Women’s rights activists say that the Taliban group discriminates against women and girls even in government and security institutions.
Human rights activist Zohra Akhtari says having security challenges addressed and having security is a right of women.
“When they say that you cannot enter the security institutions without a male chaperone, they indirectly say ‘We will not address your challenges’. When a girl goes to the police district to complain, not only are their words not heard, but the Taliban also insult them. They ask why we carry phones or a woman should not be using the phone and other humiliation and insults,” she says.
“The security institutions must address the complaints of all sections of the society without discrimination.”
These women say that the Taliban should ensure the security of the people to ensure security and order in the cities.
Note: Names marked with an asterisk* are pseudonyms for security reasons.
