Afghan YouTuber & His Colleagues Detained By Taliban, Claim Sources
Sources close to Hamayon Afghan, an Afghan YouTuber, informed Afghanistan International, that the Taliban detained him and four of his colleagues in Kabul on Thursday.
Sources close to Hamayon Afghan, an Afghan YouTuber, informed Afghanistan International, that the Taliban detained him and four of his colleagues in Kabul on Thursday.
According to the sources, Taliban officials have not provided any reason behind the detention of these individuals.
Sources added that Hamayon and his colleagues were detained from their office in the Karte Char area of Kabul.
Taliban officials have not yet commented on this matter.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) claimed responsibility for two security incidents in Kabul on Friday.
The front announced on X social media platform that it attacked a Taliban base in the 11th police district and a Taliban checkpoint in the 4th police district. According to NRF, three Taliban members have been killed in these attacks, and five others were injured.
Reports from sources indicated that two explosions occurred in Kabul on Thursday night.
In a statement, NRF reported that the first attack occurred at 7:30 PM in the 4th police district which targeted a Taliban checkpoint. It resulted in the killing of two Taliban members and injured three others.
Additionally, the front stated that it had conducted a successful attack on a Taliban base near Baba Jan brigade in the 11th police district of Kabul. According to NRF, one Taliban member was killed, and two others were wounded in this attack.
As of now, the Taliban has not commented on these incidents.
Sources from Ghor province reported that local Taliban officials forcibly took a 17-year-old girl from her home in Pasaband district and compelled her into a forced marriage with one of their members.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Interior neither confirmed nor denied the incident in response to Afghanistan International's inquiry. However, it stated that an investigation will be conducted into the matter.
At least four separate sources from Ghor province confirmed that local Taliban officials in Noorak village of Pasaband district forcefully abducted a girl.
Sources sent a video to Afghanistan International, and claimed that Khairullah Khairkhwa, the Pasaband district governor; Abdul Hamid Khalid, the police commander; Mohammad Moshfiq, the deputy intelligence officer, and Tohidi, the Taliban’s intelligence officer in Pasaband district, raided the house of this girl.
In the video sent by witnesses, a group of armed individuals can be seen taking a girl with them.
Sources allege that local Taliban officials forcibly married this young girl to an individual named Shah Wali, who is a member of the Taliban.
A source said that during the abduction of this girl from her home, the girl's family clashed with the Taliban, and during this confrontation, Khairullah Khairkhwa from Pasaband district, sustained head injuries. Sources said that after this event, Taliban members beat up the family members of this girl.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, reacted to the statements of Khawaja Asif, Pakistan's Defence Minister, regarding Afghanistan becoming a source of terrorism.
Speaking to Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) under Taliban control, Mujahid said that Pakistan's security issues are unrelated to Afghanistan.
In an interview published on Thursday, Mujahid reiterated that Afghanistan, under Taliban’s control, does not pose a threat to neighbouring countries. He emphasised that Afghanistan itself has been a victim of war for the past 40 years.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's Defence Minister posted on his X social media account that the source of terrorist incidents in Pakistan originates from Afghanistan. He noted that despite Pakistan's efforts, Kabul, aware that terrorism emanating from its territory targets Pakistan, has not made any progress in addressing this issue.
The Pakistani Defence Minister stressed that in the current situation, where the Taliban are unwilling to cooperate, Pakistan must enforce all international laws and norms at its border with Afghanistan. He also emphasised on the imperative to stop terrorist movements across the border.
These statements by Asif come one day after a suicide attack on a vehicle carrying Chinese engineers in Besham city, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In this attack, at least five Chinese engineers and one Pakistani driver were killed.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced on Thursday that two individuals had been punished for adultery in the fourth district of Kabul city.
According to the group's statement, the Taliban administered 35 lashes to each person and sentenced them to one year of imprisonment.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban in the statement added that the primary court of Kabul's fourth zone punished two individuals for adultery on the seventeenth day of Ramadan.
The Taliban did not disclose the identity of these individuals.
Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban has resumed physical punishments such as flogging, amputation, and execution.
Recently, the Afghan National Radio Television, under Taliban control, broadcast a message attributed to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, emphasising on the implementation of Sharia law, including physical punishment and stoning of women.
Human rights activists accuse the Taliban of hypocrisy in applying punishments and claim that the group does not enforce Sharia law on its own members.
Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing its sources, that the attackers who targeted the Crocus concert hall in Moscow were recruited via the "Voice of Khorasan”, a Telegram channel affiliated with ISIS Khorasan.
The channel was active in attracting audiences from Tajikistan.
RIA Novosti wrote on Wednesday, "Our investigation into one individual showed that the audience of this channel was being recruited for terrorist attacks. Similarly, we discovered that individuals involved in the Crocus Hall attack were recruited through the Voice of Khorasan channel."
The agency noted that the Voice of Khorasan channel is now inaccessible in Russia and Tajikistan, and appears to have been removed.
Telegram is a popular network among ISIS and other extremist groups in Central Asia, as it is less stringent about the dissemination of propaganda and violent content compared to other social media platforms like Meta.
Citing RIA Novosti, a Russian Federal Security Service official accused the US and British intelligence of creating the channel, a claim Russian officials have repeatedly made in connection with the ISIS attack in recent days.
US officials have stated that they are monitoring ISIS Khorasan activities and had shared information related to the March 22 concert hall attack in Moscow with the Russian government earlier, which Russian officials, including the President, did not take seriously.
Meanwhile, RIA Novosti reported, citing a judicial official in Saint Petersburg, that a Tajik citizen was fined and expelled from Russia for membership with an ISIS Telegram group.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack on the concert hall, which resulted in at least 143 fatalities.
On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that ISIS' planning and execution of this attack are implausible, accusing Ukraine and Western countries of being involved in the attack.