Mahboob Shah Darabi, President of Afghanistan’s National Snooker and Billiards Federation, claimed in an interview with Future Afghanistan media that the Taliban forcibly married his wife to another man while he was abroad.
Darabi said:
“I had traveled to Qatar to participate in the World Snooker and Billiards Federation elections. While I was away, my family held a wedding ceremony in Mazar-i-Sharif. However, during my stay in Qatar, Mawlawi Qudsi, the Taliban’s head of military education in Balkh, threatened me and later forced my wife into marriage with another man.”
According to him, not only was Mawlawi Qudsi involved in the case, but several senior Taliban officials in Balkh province also played a role.
Darabi further explained that upon returning to Afghanistan to prevent the forced marriage, he discovered what he described as a “major conspiracy” against him, allegedly involving some members of his wife’s family as well.
He added that Taliban officials in Balkh arrested and imprisoned him, where he was subjected to daily torture during his detention.
“I submitted multiple petitions to all judicial and legal institutions under the Taliban, but none yielded any results,” Darabi stated.
He accused the Taliban’s judicial and legal institutions of widespread corruption, emphasizing that there was no authority available to address his grievances.
These allegations come amid multiple reports of restrictions, arrests, and forced marriages in different parts of Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power. The Taliban, however, have repeatedly rejected such claims, calling them “propaganda by opponents.”
