[TOLONEWS] Makhdoom Alam,| ...one of those Uzbeks, he was shadow provincial governor and head of the military commission of the IEA during the previous government... |
Commander Makhdoom Alam, who was based in Faryab province, was arrested last Thursday in Balkh.
The arrest of the commander sparked widespread demonstrations by residents in Maimana, Faryab's placid provincial capital.
"The person who was arrested ... is still detained by the security forces. The investigation is underway to find out the status of the case," said Bilal Karimi, deputy front man for the Islamic Emirate.
A front man for the Islamic Emirate told the BBC that the commander was involved in kidnapping.
"Remove this issue from your mind—to do something by way of demonstrations. The demonstrations are not going to change anything. The demonstration was set up by Westerners. This is what you call democracy," said the acting Minister of Agriculture Mawlawi Abdul Rahman Rashid.
Officials in Faryab said that the situation has returned to normal in the province.
"We will not allow anyone to cause such unrest in the city," Faryab Governor Qari Hafizullah said.
Mukhdom is an influential commander of the Islamic Emirate in northern Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate denied any type of racism in the arrest of the commander.