He ran a Sarobi checkpoint, blocking the major route heading from Jalalabad into Kabul, that commonly robbed, abducted and killed travellers between 31 December 1991 to 30 September 1996.

[1] A widely publicised allegation regarding Zardad was that one of his militiamen, Abdullah Shah, viciously bit prisoners and had even eaten at least one victim's testicles.

[5] Zardad's presence in London had been discussed with a BBC reporter, John Simpson, by the Taliban's Foreign Minister in Kabul, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, during an interview in 1999.

After the BBC report, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) launched an international campaign[7] urging the British government to prosecute Zardad.

[9] Zardad was briefly arrested on 10 May 2003 by officers of the Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch and bailed only to be re-arrested on 14 July 2003, by which time he was living in Streatham had been running a pizza parlour in Bexleyheath for three years.

[1][13] One witness testified that he was stopped at a checkpoint by men with covered faces and sunglasses tied to a nearby metal chair where he was interrogated and tortured.

Zardad also denied having previously admitted to the British police that he attended a 15-day training camp where he had learned to use AK-47s, rocket launchers and other weapons.