Taliban Dismiss at Least 200 Former Afghan Prosecutors as Justice Overhaul Deepens

Experienced prosecutors lose posts as Taliban appointees take over

At least 200 prosecutors who served under Afghanistan's former government have been dismissed over a month, according to at least six current and former prosecutors, as Taliban authorities replace remaining staff with people affiliated with the movement. The dismissals affect an institution responsible for monitoring detention facilities and enforcing the orders of Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The prosecutors said removals had accelerated in Kabul and the provinces following a verbal order from Akhundzada. Some of those dismissed had continued working after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, serving in the institution that replaced the Attorney General's Office.

One prosecutor put the pace at 50 to 60 dismissals a week and said about 700 prosecutors from the former republic had remained. Farooq Aleem, a former prosecutor, gave a broader figure of more than 700 experienced prosecutors dismissed, without specifying the period covered by his count.

Taliban authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the latest dismissals, the alleged order from Akhundzada or the qualifications and selection of replacements. The latest account gives no calendar dates for the month it describes.

The staffing changes extend a deeper transformation: an office once responsible for investigating crimes and presenting cases has become a directorate focused on enforcing the Taliban leader's instructions. For people seeking justice, the change affects who examines evidence, who checks detention conditions and who can question the conduct of officials.

Dismissal notices delivered without written explanations

A prosecutor who worked in the replacement institution said staff learned they were losing their jobs when their names were announced at the office. He described receiving neither a written notice nor a month's salary.

The prosecutor recalled how he and several colleagues were told their employment would end:

One day, I was at the office when, without any official written notice, my name and the names of several other prosecutors were announced, and we were told that we should not return to work beginning the following month. In addition, they did not pay us one month's salary.

Another prosecutor described a planned sequence of removals, beginning with staff from the republic and continuing through other categories of employees. His account suggests the current dismissals form part of a continuing personnel review.

A related account dated 24 October 2026 describes a letter recording the dismissal of 11 prosecutors across six provinces: Daikundi, Bamyan, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Nuristan and Maidan Wardak. A former prosecutor in that account estimated that a committee was dismissing 40 to 50 former employees each week, compared with the 50 to 60 prosecutors cited in the latest account.

How the Attorney General's Office was transformed

Rawadari, a human rights organisation, documented the institutional change in its 24 March 2023 statement. It said Akhundzada had issued a verbal decree converting the Attorney General's Office into the General Directorate for Monitoring and Follow-up of Decrees and Directives.

The replacement institution is also described as the General Directorate for Supervision and Prosecution of Decrees and Orders. Rawadari said the change reduced the office to following the Taliban leadership's instructions and curtailed its authority to fight crime, secure justice and support fundamental rights.

Some powers previously exercised by the Attorney General's Office were transferred to Taliban courts and intelligence authorities. Former employees said at least 4,000 people lost their jobs following the restructuring decree. That figure concerns the earlier institutional overhaul, while the latest figure of at least 200 concerns a month of dismissals among remaining prosecutors.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at the time of the restructuring that the new institution would use former employees. Prosecutors then said they had received no information about that arrangement. The continued employment of some former prosecutors, followed by the latest removals, shows how the staffing changes have unfolded in stages.

A century of institutional history, then rapid change

The Afghanistan Prosecutors Association opposed the dissolution, describing the Attorney General's Office as a neutral institution established in 1921 during the reign of King Amanullah Khan. It warned that abolishing the office would erase judicial values.

The main dates trace the shift from a prosecution service to an institution centred on the Taliban leader's decrees:

• 1921: The Attorney General's Office was established under King Amanullah Khan, according to the Afghanistan Prosecutors Association.
• 15 August 2021: The Taliban returned to power and began dismantling or replacing institutions of the former republic.
• 24 March 2023: Rawadari published its statement describing the verbal decree changing the Attorney General's Office and reducing its responsibilities.
• 24 October 2026: An account described continuing dismissals, a personnel review committee and a letter listing 11 prosecutors removed across six provinces.

The practical dismantling of prosecution work began after the 2021 takeover. Rawadari's statement documents the later formal restructuring in 2023. Together, those developments explain why accounts place the office's dissolution at different stages of the Taliban's rule.

Who is selecting the replacements?

Former prosecutors described a committee reviewing service records and replacing employees with Taliban members. In the account dated 24 October 2026, they identified its chair as Shah Mohammad Shahid, the directorate's deputy for finance and administration.

They named Ezatullah Haqqani, the civil deputy, along with the military deputy and the head of personnel affairs, as other committee members. Former employees said the review extended beyond dismissal to restrictions on future recruitment.

Some candidates said they passed a recruitment examination but were subsequently rejected when their previous service in the Attorney General's Office was discovered. They said staff told them Akhundzada had ordered that former prosecutors should not be hired.

A former prosecutor in the latest account also questioned the training of replacements. He alleged that some appointees had completed six months of religious study treated as equivalent to a master's qualification, while lacking the professional knowledge and experience required for prosecutorial work. The description of those courses and their equivalence comes from the prosecutor.

Prosecutors need to assess witness accounts, examine documents and decide whether evidence supports an accusation. Replacing experienced staff changes the institution's capacity to carry out those tasks, particularly where appointments depend on affiliation and previous government service becomes a reason for exclusion.

Corruption cases appear in accounts of the removals

Former prosecutors linked the dismissals to complaints from senior Taliban officials about investigations into members of the movement. They alleged that intelligence and judicial leaders told Akhundzada in Kandahar that prosecutors from the former government were fabricating cases against Taliban members.

One dismissed prosecutor alleged that Aminullah Obaid, identified as Kabul's governor and a former governor of Daikundi, had diverted 8.1 million Afghanis in Afghan Red Crescent aid. The prosecutor said the assistance included flour, cooking oil, tents and blankets, and that investigators had prepared a case file and sent it to Kabul.

The account dated 24 October 2026 also alleged that at least 50 tonnes of wheat and humanitarian assistance carried in 20 trucks, intended for Daikundi residents, had been allocated to Obaid's friends and relatives in Kabul, Ghor, Maidan Wardak, Farah and Uruzgan. These remain allegations attributed to former prosecutors and the reporting of the aid distribution.

The competing claims concern the same sensitive responsibility: examining accusations against people in power. Former prosecutors describe retaliation for investigating corruption; complaints attributed to Taliban officials accuse those prosecutors of using their positions against the movement.

Judges now handle cases without public prosecutors

Abdul Malik Haqqani, the Taliban's deputy chief justice, has described a system in which judges handle the stages of a case without public prosecutors. His explanation places responsibility for examining accusations and delivering judgments within the court.

Haqqani explained the Taliban's position in a television interview:

A judge cannot base his decision on a prosecutor's investigations. This is our Sharia principles,

A prosecutor normally investigates an alleged crime and presents evidence for a court to examine. A judge then decides the case. Separating those functions allows the court to test the case brought before it rather than taking responsibility for every stage itself.

Farid Hamidi, Afghanistan's former attorney general, described the dissolution of the office as a mortal blow to justice. He argued that the pursuit of quick decisions was displacing careful examination of cases.

Hamidi put his concern this way:

They are sacrificing justice for speed,

Taliban judges were reported to have resolved more than 200,000 cases during the first two years of their rule, including cases left pending under the former government. Afghans frustrated with delays in the previous courts have welcomed faster decisions. For defendants and complainants, the central practical issue is whether a quick hearing still allows enough time to examine evidence and hear both sides.

Detention oversight and risks to former staff

The replacement directorate retains responsibilities that directly affect people in custody. These include monitoring detention facilities and the implementation of Akhundzada's decrees. Descriptions of its duties also include issuing arrest warrants under the leader's orders, transferring prisoners from abroad, extraditing suspects and preparing or changing Taliban documents.

Rawadari warned in March 2023 that arbitrary arrests, incomplete investigations, delayed cases and indefinite detention were weakening access to justice. It also said the constitution had been dissolved and laws including the Penal Code suspended, leaving fewer published legal protections for people dealing with the authorities.

Former prosecutors face personal danger alongside lost employment. The United Nations human rights body reported that reprisals by prisoners released in 2021 had resulted in the killings of more than a dozen former prosecutors. Many former prosecutors had previously built cases against Taliban insurgents.

The dismissal of remaining staff therefore affects both household income and personal security. A prosecutor who loses a salary may also lose an institutional position while still facing hostility connected to earlier cases.

Women and vulnerable people lose specialised institutions

Rawadari placed the changes to the Attorney General's Office within a wider dismantling of institutions after 15 August 2021. It listed the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, electoral bodies and Ministry of Women's Affairs among those dissolved.

The organisation also identified the removal of special courts and prosecution units dedicated to violence against women and children. Those units had given particular officials responsibility for investigating and handling such complaints.

Women have also been excluded from judicial employment under the Taliban, leaving no female judges to hear disputes involving female plaintiffs and defendants. The removal of specialised units and female judicial staff changes the routes through which women can bring complaints and seek a hearing.

The latest dismissals continue that institutional shift. Remaining prosecutors from the former republic are being removed from an organisation whose duties already centre on the Taliban leader's orders, while courts exercise powers previously shared with a prosecution service.

Key Points

• At least 200 former government prosecutors were dismissed over a month, according to current and former prosecutors.
• Employees said Taliban affiliates replaced dismissed staff following a verbal order attributed to Hibatullah Akhundzada.
• Rawadari documented the formal restructuring of the Attorney General's Office in March 2023.
• Former employees previously said at least 4,000 jobs were lost during the broader restructuring.
• The replacement directorate monitors decrees and detention facilities, while Taliban courts operate without public prosecutors.
• Taliban authorities did not respond to questions about the latest dismissals, the alleged order or replacement appointments.