Taliban’s Funding Directive: Events Banned, Local Resources Seized

In response to a directive from the Taliban leader prohibiting wedding ceremonies, mourning gatherings, and Hajj celebrations, Mawlawi Mohammad Yusuf Wafa, the governor of Balkh, has ordered security commanders in northern provinces to collect expenses intended for these events from their organizers and remit them to him. Wafa emphasized that these funds should be allocated for the costs of jihadist schools, the relevant clerics, and the support of foreign fighters who have been killed or injured in the Taliban’s conflicts…

Prohibition of Gatherings and Financial Collection Orders

According to a direct order from Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, the organization of wedding celebrations, mourning assemblies, and events welcoming pilgrims returning from Umrah has been banned across Afghanistan. This directive has been communicated to the governors of all 34 provinces, with the Taliban’s Interior Ministry stressing the enforcement of this rule by security forces and the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Funding Foreign Fighters at Citizens’ Expense

Mawlawi Mohammad Yusuf Wafa, the Balkh governor and a special representative of Hibatullah in the northern provinces, has issued a contentious executive command. He directed security commanders in the northern provinces to not only prevent these gatherings but also to confiscate funds that the organizers had planned for hospitality and event execution, transferring these amounts through the security commanders to the provincial governors. Wafa justified this action by stating that the seized funds should be directed specifically towards covering expenses for jihadist schools, supporting the clerics of these institutions, and providing for the livelihoods of individuals from other countries who have been killed or wounded in the Taliban wars and are currently residing in Afghanistan. This move by the Taliban, which effectively entails the appropriation of residents’ private assets to finance ideological institutions and support foreign fighters, has sparked significant concern over violations of individual rights and compelling citizens to finance the Taliban’s military and political expenditures.