Taliban Officials Exploit Tourists at Band Amir National Park Amid Summer Season

Sources in Bamiyan have revealed that the Taliban’s Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has stationed a permanent team of inspectors at Band Amir National Park with the onset of the summer season. Under the guise of enforcing Sharia law, these officials are systematically extorting money from tourists…

Reports indicate that despite strict orders banning the entry of women, these officials have secretly collected amounts ranging from 150 to 250 Afghanis from vehicles carrying families. Shockingly, they have entered into an oral agreement worth 200,000 Afghanis with local hotel owners and shopkeepers, allowing these businesses to overlook the presence of families in exchange for cash.

This widespread extortion, alongside the substantial revenue the Taliban is generating from leasing various sections of this recreational site, has led to severe disputes between local Bamiyan authorities and hardliners from the Ministry in Kabul over the management and loss of economic gains in Band Amir.