The fate of Afghanistan’s Marshal Dostum’s palace

The private palace of Afghanistan’s Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum that was one of the main centers of power in the northern region of Afghanistan for the past 30 years, now has been turned into a military base.

Dostum used this palace, which is located in the city of Sheberghan, to show his power both during the civil wars and as his vice president during the democratic government.

Now after the fall of the previous government in the hands of the Taliban and the escape of powerful figures including Marshal Dostum, what is the fate of his place now?

Confrontation of two old enemies after 20 years  

The city of Sheberghan fell to the Taliban on 14 August 2021. Now the Taliban have turned Dostum’s palace into a military base.

Taliban Deputy Defense Minister, Mullah Mohammad Fazel Mazloum, ordered the Taliban forces in this city to turn Dostum’s palace into a military base.

Mullah Fazel is one of the Taliban commanders who surrendered to forces loyal to Dostum in 2001. At that time, Mullah Fazel was the chief of staff of the Taliban.

A picture taken at that time showed Mullah Fazel next to Dostum. In that picture, Mullah Dadullah, another Taliban commander, is also seen next to Mullah Fazel.

This picture was apparently taken inside a war castle in the west of Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province. After this meeting, Dostum handed over Mullah Fazel as a prisoner of war to the US forces who had just arrived in Afghanistan.

Mullah Fazel was imprisoned in Guantanamo for many years. In 2014, he was one of the five senior Taliban members who was released from Guantanamo prison and transferred to Qatar by the Americans.

Since then, Mullah Fazel became one of the main figures of the political office of the Taliban in Qatar. After 20 years, Dostum and Mullah Fazel met during the Moscow meeting in March 2021.

Reportedly, during the meeting Mullah Fazel went on a violent confrontation with Dostum inside the hall where they met in Moscow. Mullah Fazel called Dostum “traitor and murderer,” according to sources.

In response to Fazel, Dostum left the meeting and did not attend other scheduled meetings the other days.

Mullah Fazel’s return to Dostum’s palace

Now, Mullah Fazel is once again the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Taliban. In this capacity, he once again traveled to northern Afghanistan and the city of Shaberghan, the center of power of Dostum. During this trip, he went to Dostum palace and renamed it “Qasr Mellat” (Nation Palace). But people do not have access to this palace.

In 2021, when the Taliban captured the city of Shaberghan, an image of one of the members of the Taliban, who was wearing the military uniform of Dostum, became public.

A number of social media users shared this image and considered it a sign of the escape of former powerful officials and figures.

While the Taliban have renamed Dostum’s palace to Nation Palace, the residents of Shaberghan told Amu that the Taliban do not allow people to enter this palace.

“The Taliban only allow their forces to enter this palace,” a resident of Jawzjan told Amu on condition of anonymity.

“Many of the palace gates and shutters are broken, and the seats that were used for the conference are filled with dirt, and no one is paying attention to the palace. Almost all the equipment and supplies of the palace are being destroyed,” he added.

How was Dostum palace built?

The palace of Dostum was built 30 years ago at a huge cost in the span of three years. In response to the question of how much money was spent to build this palace, Bashir Ahmad Teyenj, one of the close aides to Dostum, said: “The national movement was very greedy at that time, and there was no calculation of how much money was spent.”

Mr. Teyenj furthered: “This palace was built between 1993 and 1996. To build this palace, the revenue from the ports of Aqeena and Hayratan has been used.”

At that time, the forces loyal to Dostum were in control of these two important ports.

Marshal Dostum at that time was one of the parties involved in the civil wars, which controlled large parts of the northern provinces of Afghanistan.

Dostum’s palace was built on 15 acres of land. According to Teyenj, inside this palace there is a mosque, nine small halls and a large conference hall that can accommodate more than 4 thousand participants.

In an interview with Amu, Mr. Teyenj also claimed that all the equipment of this palace was “stolen” by the Taliban.

The article is translated from Amu tv.