Iranian Citizen Kidnapped, Held Hostage For 61 Days in Afghanistan, Says Iranian Official

Local sources also reported the sound of shooting and explosions in the area.

The Taliban have not reacted to the AFF’s claim so far.

In a statement, Afghanistan Freedom Front stressed that this attack had been carried out on a Taliban outpost in Panjshirwat area of District 11 of Kabul.

The statement stated that AFF used "light and heavy weapons, including RPGs" in the attack.

AFF said, "In the last two weeks alone, the Taliban have detained seven former security forces members and transferred them to unknown locations from the outpost which had been targeted by the freedom front.”

According to the border commander of the Taliban in Islam Qala, 896 of these refugees received aid from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees recently announced more than 952,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, Pakistan, and some other countries in the past year.

Rights organisations that support the rights of refugees stated that the Islamic Republic deports Afghan refugees.

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, tens of thousands of people left Afghanistan due to the threats from the Taliban, poverty, and unemployment, and majority of them have taken refuge in Iran and Pakistan.

According to this news agency, the attacker, Rahmatullah Nowrozov is a citizen of Tajikistan, who joined ISIS in Turkey and then, trained for three months in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Tasnim reported that Nowrozov, whose organisational name is "Salman Aslamyar", contacted one of his ISIS contacts through the internet.

Tasnim added that the attacker has finished "ISIS training for terror operations" in Afghanistan for about three months and then, entered Iran to wage the terror attack.

According to Iranian media reports, two people were killed and at least seven people were injured in the attack on Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz.

On Tuesday, Yadullah Boali, the commander of the IRGC Fajr Fars Corps, told reporters that the attacker was part of a “network” which, according to Boali, "operates in several countries”.

The Iranian official added that more than 10 people have been arrested in connection with the Shah Cheragh attack.

Earlier, a group of UN experts said that ISIS is the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan and the region and has increased its operational capabilities.

After the Taliban’s dominance in Afghanistan, several neighbouring and Central Asian countries have always expressed concern about the presence of terrorist groups, especially ISIS, in Afghanistan.

Although Taliban officials claim that ISIS has lost its operational capability in Afghanistan, they have repeatedly announced attacks against ISIS fighters in the past months.

ISIS has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Taliban officials in the past months.

On Wednesday, Sharei stated that there is no Sharia basis for political parties and added that banning the parties is in the interest of the nation and the people in Afghanistan are not in favour of having them.

According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, officials of the group’s Ministry of Justice said that the Taliban reviews all laws of Afghanistan according to "Islamic Sharia".

After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, Afghan political party leaders and politicians left Afghanistan. A number of these leaders continued their political activities outside Afghanistan, mainly against the Taliban.

Taliban officials added that 38 legal documents and 10 procedural documents have been prepared in this ministry and shared with the Taliban leader for review.

The group also mentioned that during this period under the Taliban reign, 112 former security forces had been killed by "unknown individuals".

In the report, in addition to the violation of Afghan women's right to education and employment, the group has documented the killing of more than 188 women by unknown perpetrators and members associated with the Taliban.

Afghan Witness has registered more than 160 protests, including 81 street protests led by women in different provinces of Afghanistan, in the last two years. The Taliban have continuously suppressed protests and arrested and tortured Afghan protesters.

The gradual erosion of ground for independent media and civil society is one of the issues mentioned in the report. According to Afghan Witness, 67 civil society activists, 98 journalists, and media activists have been arrested in the last two years.

According to Afghan Witness, ISIS carried out targeted attacks in Afghanistan, especially against Hazara and Shia communities, over the last two years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The group has documented, more than 29 attacks on Hazaras and Shias carried out by ISIS, as a result of which 193 members of this ethnic and religious group have been killed and more than 400 members have been injured.

Afghan Witness has also recorded that as per the order of the Taliban courts, more than 350 people have been punished publicly on the charges of "illicit relations" and at least two people have been executed.