Alam Majidi, the Taliban spokesperson for Baghlan, has declared that the residential area of Shia Ismailis in Pul-e-Khumri city is state-owned, with plans underway to construct a "bus station" on the site.
Majidi dismissed reports of the forced relocation of approximately 70 Ismaili families as "baseless."
According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, the Ismailis of Baghlan have agreed to relinquish their residential area to the Taliban.
Majidi did not disclose where these families would be relocated or whether they would receive compensation for the demolition of their homes.
Earlier, the Afghan Embassy in Italy issued a statement on Wednesday indicating that the Taliban intend to forcibly relocate about 70 Ismaili families from Pul-e-Khumri. The embassy's statement noted that the Taliban had set a deadline for these families to vacate their homes by the "third day of Eid al-Adha."
The statement further mentioned that the Taliban is exerting pressure to coerce the followers of the Shia Ismaili sect to convert to Sunni Islam.
According to information from the Afghan Embassy in Italy, these Ismaili families "have been residing in the outskirts of Pul-e-Khumri for the past 30 years." Khalid Zakaria, the Afghan Ambassador to Italy, noted that "these families are in a poor economic condition and lack the means to relocate elsewhere."
