80,000 Kabul Residents Face Eviction After Taliban Land Ruling

Kabul (GNP): Nearly 80,000 people in a residential township in western Kabul face possible eviction. Taliban authorities have declared the area, known as Omid Sabz Township, state property.

The decision has prompted 28 civil society organisations to urge the United Nations (UN) and the wider international community to step in.

In an open letter, the groups appealed to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UN special rapporteurs, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) and other international organisations. They want help in preventing the displacement of thousands of families.

The letter says about 11,500 families live in the township. The organisations warn that the ruling could lead to the seizure of privately owned homes and land.

The ruling came from the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice. It said a special court handling cases of seized state land in the central zone had reviewed documents covering 1,507.49 acres in Omid Sabz. The court concluded that the entire area belongs to the state.

Residents reject that finding. They say they hold land purchase and sale documents, along with municipal permits issued by the relevant authorities, which support their ownership claims.

They also point to court history. According to residents, courts under successive governments, including during the Taliban’s first period in power, upheld their property rights.

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Since the ruling, residents have repeatedly asked the Taliban authorities to reconsider. A delegation of community elders also travelled to Kandahar to seek the intervention of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Those efforts have not led to a reversal of the decision.

That is why the civil society groups are now looking abroad. They are calling for immediate international attention and warn that displacing thousands of residents could create serious humanitarian and housing problems.

For now, the dispute remains unresolved, and residents continue to challenge the Taliban’s claim of state ownership over Omid Sabz Township.