The Taliban have arrested a popular university professor and outspoken critic of successive Afghan governments, including the new rulers in Kabul, the group’s spokesman said on Sunday.
Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet that professor Faizuallah Jalal was being held by the Taliban’s intelligence arm. The group accused the professor of “nonsense remarks on social media, which were provoking people against the government.”
In the capital of Kabul, a small group of women protested Mr. Jalal’s detention. They chanted: “Talking is not a crime, professor Jalal is not a criminal.”
The arrest of a prominent political activist was certain to complicate the country’s humanitarian aid efforts.
It also reinforced fears that the Taliban are imposing the same harsh and repressive rule as their last stint in power.
In a tweet early on Sunday, Mr. Jalal’s daughter Hasina Jalal pleaded for her father’s release. “As I confirm the disturbing news. I ask for the immediate release of my father Professor Faizuallah Jalal,” she tweeted.
TOLO TV, Afghanistan’s largest station on which Mr. Jalal was a frequent commentator, tweeted that Mr. Jalal was arrested “reportedly for making allegations against government departments, a security source said.”
