Taliban Detains Former Afghan Member of Parliament, Say Sources

Reliable sources in Kabul have confirmed to Afghanistan International that the Taliban have detained Haidar Jan Naeemzoi, a former member of the parliament, on charges of "land grabbing".

Over the last few days, this is the second former parliament member being detained by the Taliban.

Naeemzoi was the representative of the nomads during the 15th and 16th term of the parliament in Afghanistan.

Naeemzoi is the son of Mohammad Naeem Kochai, one of the former leaders of the Kochi tribes and a senior member of the Taliban group.

During the past few days, there were reports regarding the detention of Mullah Tarakhel Mohammadi, another representative of the Kochis in the parliament of the previous government, along with three members of his family.

According to the reports, Mohammadi was also detained on charges of "land usurpation".

The Taliban has not yet commented on the detention of these two former members of the parliament.

This is not the first time that the Taliban has arrested former members of parliament. Mohammad Payanda, another member of the former parliament, has been in Taliban prison for months.

According to the documents that reached Afghanistan International in October, a Taliban court has issued a retribution sentence [qisas] for Payanda for committing murder on a land conflict.