Religious minorities | The Taliban declared the township state land and demand 4,000 afghanis per room

ACW | 17 October 2026 — Residents of Omid-e Sabz in western Kabul, one of the city’s largest residential townships, face growing Taliban pressure to pay rent or leave their homes. According to KabulNow, about 11,500 families, nearly 80,000 people, live in some 2,100 buildings in the township, most of them Hazara and Shia.

From homeowners to tenants

On 20 April 2026 the Taliban’s special court for state land declared about 1,507 jeribs of land in Kabul’s Districts 6 and 13 state property. The Taliban Ministry of Justice has said people who bought homes or plots in the township should seek compensation from those who sold to them, not from the current administration (Khaama Press).

According to Zan Times, the Taliban justice minister gave residents one week on 1 August to leave the township. The deadline was postponed after protests and a 30-member delegation’s trip to Kandahar, but buying, selling and renting homes was banned.

KabulNow reports that since late September ministry teams, sometimes accompanied by armed men, have collected property documents, inspected homes and sealed empty houses. On 7 October residents were told to pay the Ministry of Justice 4,000 afghanis per room, covering back rent and six months in advance.

Detentions and evictions

Etilaatroz, as cited by KabulNow, reported that in the week before 10 October more than 30 residents, including community representatives, were detained and beaten and made to promise they would leave within two days. One resident said 100 to 200 homes had been vacated by then, with Taliban members moving into some. Another told KabulNow: “The plan is to put pressure on people until they leave on their own.”

The latest report came from Hasht-e Subh on 15 October: local sources said armed men who introduced themselves as a Ministry of Justice delegation entered a house in Phase Three and took cash and gold, two days after another house in Phase Four was looted the same way. The Taliban have not commented.

The Taliban’s position

The Taliban say the land belongs to the state and that they are recovering usurped property. According to their Ministry of Justice, land in 49 residential townships in 14 provinces has been declared wholly or partly state property over the past four years. Hazara and Shia religious and community representatives accuse the Taliban of discrimination and forced displacement.

Verification note: the core facts of this report (the court ruling, the number of families, the rent and the inspections) have been reported by several independent outlets, including KabulNow, Zan Times, Hasht-e Subh and Khaama Press. The detentions were reported only by Etilaatroz, and the lootings only by Hasht-e Subh citing unnamed sources.