Among luxuries and weapons, the Taliban camp in the palace of their worst enemy

In Kabul, the Taliban have taken the luxurious palace of one of their worst enemies, the former vice-president Abdul Rachid Dostum. From there enter upholstered sofas, a tropical greenhouse and a jacuzzi, They promise to leave corruption behind and open a new chapter for Afghanistan.

Now in the hands of Taliban fighters, the opulent village gave austere Islamists a glimpse into the lives of former Afghan rulers, and they say luxury is the product of years of endemic corruption.

In an endless corridor of apple green carpet, so thick that your feet sink in when you walk, a Taliban fighter sleeps on a sofa, his kalashnikov well dressed, under the gaze of colorful fish that live in seven gigantic aquariums.

The fighter is part of the personal security detachment of Qari Salahuddin Ayoubi, one of the most powerful commanders of the new regime, who installed his company of 150 men in the mansion on August 15, the day of the fall of Kabul.

The luxury that saw the AFP in one visiting the mansion would be unimaginable for most Afghans.

Huge crystal chandeliers hang in cavernous hallways, large upholstered sofas furnish a maze of lounges and an indoor pool is finished with intricate turquoise tiles.

There is even a sauna, a Turkish steam bath and a fully equipped gym.

It is an extraordinary experience for new occupants, who for years sacrificed their comforts to rebellion, living off their intelligence in the plains, valleys and mountains of rural Afghanistan.

But the new head of the family, now military commander of four provinces, specifies that your men will not get used to luxury.

“Islam never wants us to have a luxurious life”, Ayoubi told the AFP, adding that luxury comes to paradise, “life after death”.

“The thieves’ quarter”

The owner of the mansion, comrade, is a notorious figure woven into the fabric of recent Afghan history.

A former paratrooper, Communist commander, warlord and vice-president, he was the very definition of a cunning political survivor. which has withstood more than four decades of conflict in war-torn Afghanistan.

Despite a string of war crimes linked to Dostum’s forces, the former Afghan government hoped that its military acumen and simmering hatred of the Taliban would help them survive.

Corn his fortress was overrun and the gray-haired 67-year-old fled across the border to Uzbekistan.

Dostum widely suspected of profiting greatly from corruption and the hijacking that discredited the previous government.

Many officials illegally seized land to build luxury homes in a neighborhood, which earned him the nickname of “Thieves’ Quarter” among the locals.

In a wing of the huge house, Taliban fighters relaxed in a huge tropical greenhouse measuring several hundred square meters under a huge glass ceiling.

Who is neglected by a mezzanine dominated by a dark wooden bar, a testament to the decadent tastes brought back from a general known for his penchant for parties and strong spirits.

The Taliban have good reason to hate Dostum.

In 2001, it was accused of having killed more than 2,000 fighters, locking many in containers in the middle of the desert where they suffocated under a blazing sun.

But Commander Ayoubi rejected any desire for revenge.

“If other oppressed people like us had come here, you wouldn’t have seen the chairs and tables. It is possible that they destroyed them “, noted.

But the new regime will not allow this luxury to be built on ill-gotten gains in the future, he said.

“We are on the side of the poor”, he says, as dozens of visitors wait patiently in the hallway, lazily gazing at the fish with indifference.

(By Emmanuel DUPARCQ, AFP)

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