The de facto Ministry of Justice has announced that a specialized judicial body has ruled approximately 122 jeribs (equivalent to 61 acres) of land in Kabul’s Paghman district to be “state-owned” (Emirati), dismissing private ownership claims in the area.
According to an official statement released by the ministry, the ruling was handed down by the Special Court for Addressing Cases of Usurped State Lands in the Central Zone. The adjudication targeted land located specifically in the Kozi Arghandi sector of Paghman.
Judicial Mechanism and Land Recovery Enforcement
The Ministry of Justice indicated that the land was initially flagged by the de facto Commission for the Prevention of Land Usurpation and Recovery of Usurped Lands.
- Referral Process: Following initial investigations by the land grabbing commission, the case was forwarded to the specialized court under Article 17 of the de facto administration’s Law on the Prevention and Restitution of Grabbed Lands.
- Rejection of Private Deeds: Authorities claimed the court reviewed property deeds and historical records, concluding that occupants and claimants failed to produce valid evidence of legal purchase from previous state entities. Consequently, any existing private claims were invalidated.
Expanding Property Takeovers Across Kabul
This ruling is part of a broader, systematic campaign by the de facto Ministry of Justice and specialized land commissions to reclassify vast swaths of residential, agricultural, and commercial real estate across Kabul and other provinces as state-owned property.
Housing advocates, landowners, and displaced communities have repeatedly voiced alarm over these property reclassifications, noting that special court decrees often override long-standing customary deeds and registered private titles without transparent, independent judicial recourse—raising widespread fears of arbitrary dispossession and forced displacement under de facto rule.