Taliban’s Call For Opponents To Return Is Aimed At Silencing Dissent, Says Ex-MP

Fawzia Koofi, a former member of Afghanistan’s parliament, has rejected the Taliban’s recent invitation for former officials to return to the country, saying it is not an effort at reconciliation but a calculated move to silence dissenting voices.

In a speech during Eid al-Adha at the presidential palace on Saturday, Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund called on opponents including those who had worked with the Americans to return to Afghanistan. He claimed that the Taliban has declared a general amnesty and does not intend to harm anyone.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for Afghanistan, described Akhund’s message as a positive step.

Koofi, however, stressed that many former officials particularly former security personnel who have returned to Afghanistan have faced arrest, torture or execution. She said there is credible evidence of targeted killings of returning former security forces.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has confirmed killings of former military personnel.

In a report published in May 2024, UNAMA stated that despite the Taliban’s announcement of a general amnesty, the group continues to arrest, torture and kill employees and soldiers of the former government. Over a three-month period, UNAMA documented 38 cases of arbitrary detention, 10 cases of torture and mistreatment, and at least four extrajudicial killings of former government personnel.

The Taliban has denied such reports, dismissing them as propaganda.

The US State Department has also expressed concern over the Taliban’s retaliatory actions against former Afghan security forces.

Taliban officials maintain that the war ended with their takeover of Afghanistan and that security has been restored. The group has established a commission to invite opponents to return to the country. However, no major political figures have accepted the invitation. Aside from Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah leaders of the former government who remained in Kabul most prominent non-Taliban political figures remain in exile.

Political opponents of the Taliban have repeatedly stated that the group is not genuinely interested in dialogue or reconciliation, but is instead seeking allegiance. They have emphasised that under no circumstances will they pledge allegiance to the Taliban.