Former Afghan National Army's Retired Colonel Arrested in Baghlan

In the audio files, it has been said that at least 26 prosecutors have been killed.

In the latest case, local sources from Khost province said that Momtaz Shirzai, a prosecutor of the former government’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and a teacher at a private university in Khost province, had been murdered on Saturday, July 16.

On Friday, July 15, Shirzai was kidnapped by unidentified men in Khost province. Earlier too, he had been imprisoned by the Taliban for 10 days, after the group’s takeover.

In the audio files that have been sent to Afghanistan International, some of the prosecutors expressed concerns over targeted assassination of Afghan prosecutors.

A female prosecutor said, “due to threats and chasing by criminals and Taliban,” she can’t reveal her name. She added that her colleagues have been fired despite having Masters and PHD degrees and having professional experience.

She said that “being a female” has been brought up as one of the reasons for the dismissal of the prosecutors. The prosecutor added that having experience of working in the previous government was also among other reasons for the dismissal.

She emphasized that the Taliban’s guards weren’t allowing female prosecutors to enter their offices.

In these files, it has been said that the Taliban used administrative employees of the AGO’s office till the time they got their own employees and then, they fired them.

This group of prosecutors said that administrative employees of the attorney general, are currently facing unemployment, assassination, force disappearance, arbitrary arrests and are taking refugee in other countries.

Prosecutors say that collective dismissal of prosecutors will weaken rule of law, will lead to more injustice and weakening of the justice system.

The female prosecutor added that her colleagues have been receiving threats from Taliban prisoners who have been released. Her colleagues are “being assassinated or are disappearing everyday”, she said.

Another prosecutor said that since they had checked criminal cases and had asked the court for their punishment in the light of law, the Taliban are hostile towards prosecutors, now that they are in power.

According to Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-controlled media group, 390 people have been infected with cholera in the past 24 hours in the capital city and two other districts of Zabul province.

Taliban’s health officials said that mobile health teams have been deployed to the affected areas.

Cholera cases have increased in Zabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces in the past few months. Cholera is a type of infection in the intestine, which is mostly caused due to drinking contaminated water.

After Pakistan, Qatar, China, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Russia, Turkey is the seventh country to accept diplomats from the Taliban.

During the past week, a number of Taliban officials, including Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Deputy Foreign Minister of the group, participated in the celebration of Turkey's Independence Day at the country's embassy in Kabul.

Earlier, Turkey had a military presence in Afghanistan within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and was one of the few countries that kept its embassy open in Kabul even after the Taliban takeover of the capital city in August 15, 2021.

Although the Taliban has pushed extensively to receive international recognition, so far, no country has agreed to recognize the group as a legitimate state.

The formation of an inclusive government, and commitment to human rights, and women rights are some of the preconditions of many countries for the recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Local residents said that a group of refugees are waiting for the reopening of the border. Bahram Haqmal, Taliban’s spokesperson in Nimroz province, confirmed the closure of the border by the Taliban. The Taliban claim that Iran has not upheld their promises to this group.

However, local people said that Iran had closed the border after Taliban killed one of their border guards.

Local sources from Nimroz province had told Afghanistan International 20 days ago that Mohammad Sayaad, an Iranian border guard was shot dead by Taliban fighters in the border area of Milak on Tuesday, June 28. Iran’s Foreign Ministry had then confirmed the death of its border guard a day later. They had said that responsible organizations were investigating the incident and they will announce the updates about the case as soon as the matter is clarified.

Nasser Kanaani, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said that they expect the Taliban to take firm action in clarifying the matter, punishment of predators, and prevent such incidents.

However, Taliban officials in Nimroz province then accused the Iranian border guards of shooting towards the Afghanistan side and killing a child and injuring other Afghan citizens.

Taliban fighters have been involved in a clash with Iranian border guards earlier too. Previously, Taliban and Iranian border guards had been involved in a clash in Nimroz province, but later both sides announced that it was due to a misunderstanding and emphasized on preventing such incidents.

The NRF stated that Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban's Defense Minister, was leading the operations. However, independent sources are yet to confirm if Mullah Yaqoob had travelled to the district and led the Taliban forces’ operations in Baghlan.

NRF claimed that 17 fighters of the Omari and Badri special units of the Taliban had been killed in the front’s counter attacks.

Sibghatullah Ahmadi, the spokesperson of the NRF, wrote on his Twitter account, that these units have left Baghlan province for Kabul after their defeat.

The Taliban have not yet reacted to the NRF statement.

On Friday, local sources of Afghanistan International had confirmed that the Taliban had concentrated their forces in Baghlan to suppress the resistance forces.

Reports show that for the past three days, along with Andarab district, heavy fighting had been going on in different areas of Panjshir province too.

A new wave of civilian killings in Panjshir and Baghlan

The Taliban operations have been accompanied by a wave of pressure tactics by the group against civilians in Baghlan and Panjshir provinces.

Local sources reported that on Sunday, the Taliban killed a woman in Abshar district of Panjshir province. According to sources, 43-year-old Sharifa was shot while on her way to deliver food to her husband in Parangal village.

Taliban fighters have told locals in the district that they killed the woman on their suspicion of her collaborating with the NRF.

According to the sources, the husband of the dead woman had gone to the mountains "with the permission of the Taliban" to collect firewood, and his wife had left the house to deliver food to him.

In the meantime, local sources from Khost district of Baghlan province reported on Saturday, last week, that Ziaul Haq Raid, a former local employee of the Ministry of Finance in Pul Khumri district, was shot dead after three days of torture in a Taliban prison.

According to the sources, the young man's body was handed over to his family on July 9. Raid was imprisoned because of his family’s relationship with one of the commanders of the NRF and was killed after three days of torture.

Meanwhile, local sources told Afghanistan International that on Monday morning, the Taliban shot dead a civilian named Sayed Aman Osmani, in Sachi Bala village in Khost district of Baghlan province.

Sayed Aman was a civil servant of Pul-e-Khumri Municipality and was visiting his family during Eid-al- Adha holidays in the area.

Residents of Khost district said that Osmani's family lives in Sachi Bala village and the Taliban pulled him out of their tent and shot him dead. Osmani studied at the Faculty of Persian Language and Literature of Baghlan University.