SHIBARGHAN (PAN): Three Taliban factions are fighting over the collection of Oshar and Zakat -- mandatory religious donations -- in two districts of northern Jawzjan province, police and residents say. Villagers worry the dispute could lead to further violence in their once-peaceful area.

Brig. Gen. Abdul Aziz Ghairat, the local police chief, says the heads of three Taliban factions have been forcibly collecting Oshar and Zakat from residents in Darzab and Qush Tapa districts for the past year.

Both Oshar and Zakat are a religious tax considered obligatory for all Muslims. Oshar is one tenth of a harvest, while Zakat is 2.5 per cent of income. Both are traditionally collected by a religious leader who then distributes them to the poor. However, in the two districts, Taliban leaders have been insisting villagers pay the donations to them, and are now fighting among themselves over the spoils.

Maulvi Naimatullah, who is active in Darzab district, heads one faction related to Mullah Omar -- the Taliban's one-eyed spiritual leader -- while Qari Rohullah and Qari Amanullah head two other factions linked to the Tahir Youldash group, Ghairat says.

Aminullah, the district chief in Qush Tapa, says the dispute between the three has become so bad that earlier this month, "Naimatullah's peopled ambushed Qari Rohullah's supporters in Darzab and captured their motorbikes".

He says he fears that unless something is done, the groups will turn to armed warfare.

Qari Gul Rahman, another local Taliban commander in neighbouring Faryab province, stepped in to try to resolve the dispute, but was unsuccessful, he says.

Meanwhile, residents of the two districts are concerned about their safety as they are facing threats from all sides.

A farmer in Shir Big village in Qush Tapa district, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the dispute over who collects Oshar and Zakat has people confused.

He says the three groups collect money separately and villagers do not know which group to pay their money to.

He says if someone refuses to pay, the Taliban beat them and threaten them with death.

Last winter, two men from his village, Arbab Ghani and Muhammad Naeem, were killed for not paying Oshar and Zakat to the Taliban.

A government official who lives in Qush Tapa says he has been paying 10 percent of his salary to the Taliban for the past four months. He moved to the provincial capital of Shiberghan to try to escape the forced collection, he says.

"Our village is 15 kilometres from the district centre, but because of this dispute, we are afraid to leave our houses at night," says the official, who asks his name not be used for fear of retaliation by the Taliban.  

He says other government officials are also forced to pay Zakat to the insurgents.

Mualavi Muhammad Jan Muradi, 78, a resident of Jarqudaq village in Qush Tapa, says Islam allows Oshar and Zakat to be collected only once a year, and only from land owners and wealthy people.

He says taking either donation by force is illegal and considered stealing.

However Mullah Sher Ahmad Sangari, a local insurgent leader in Qush Tapa, denies the Taliban have been taking money from residents.

He says some people are trying to turn the villagers against them.

He also rejects any dispute between Qari Aman, Qari Rohullah and Maulavi Naimatullah, saying they are united in the fight against the government.

In Darzab district, the situation does not seem much better.

Bismillah, 52, a carpenter and resident of Khushtar Belaq village in Darzab, says the Taliban take 5,000 Afghanis (about $110) for 40 sheep as Zakat and 7 kg wheat for every 70 kg as Oshar.

He says with over 200,000 sheep in the district, that is a lot of money for the Taliban.

"It seems the Taliban has forgotten religion and only care about business," he says.

Bismillah says the Taliban have been collecting Zakat and Oshar for the past year and the government is unable to stop them.

However, Gidli Murad, district chief in Darzab, says the situation has improved since the Afghan National Army (ANA) launched an operation on the border of the two districts. He says the Taliban are now confined to remote mountainous areas and only come down to the villages at night.

However, he says there is an additional problem as a fourth Taliban commander has started to demand Zakat and Oshar from residents in Darzab.

The leader of the new group, Maulavi Qudus, used to be a teacher at a religious seminary in the northeastern province of Kunduz, he says.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed earlier told Pajhwok Afghan News that insurgents found taking money by force from people in the name of the Taliban would be punished.

He says five people have already been punished for misusing the Taliban's name to collect money in the two districts.

Fakir Muhammad Jawzjani, deputy governor of Jawzjan province, says the government is in full control of the two districts and that forced collections by the Taliban happen only occasionally.

"Taliban enter remote villages on motorbikes as thieves and force people to pay and impose their ruling," he says, adding that stopping such random acts is difficult.

However, a clearance operation is expected to be carried out in the districts soon.

Col. Muhammad Ebrahim, a police official in Jawzjan, says such an operation is being planned.

He says the intelligence agency, Ministry of Interior, international forces and local ANA troops are all involved in the operation, but did not say when it would take place.

Sayed Imam Uddin, a tribal elder in Darzab district, says elders have failed to stop Taliban from forcibly collecting Oshar and Zakat.       

He says if the Taliban cannot agree on how to collect the money, how can elders find a solution.

hm/cas