Three Ismaili Men Killed In Separate Attacks In Northern Afghanistan
Three men from Afghanistan’s Ismaili community have been killed in separate shootings over the past month in the northern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan, local sources said.
Three men from Afghanistan’s Ismaili community have been killed in separate shootings over the past month in the northern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan, local sources said.
The latest incident occurred on Thursday evening in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, where armed men shot and killed Mohammad Shah, an Ismaili resident originally from Shighnan district. Shah, who worked for a private office in the province, was attacked in the Dasht-e-Qargh area while returning home from a bakery, according to eyewitnesses.
Local sources told Afghanistan International on Friday that another Ismaili man, identified as Khodaydad, was shot dead two days earlier in Warsuj district of Takhar. He was killed in front of his wife and children, the sources said.
According to local residents, Khodaydad was a relative of Ghulam Naser, who was killed about 20 days earlier after travelling with Zahidullah, a former Taliban intelligence chief in Warsuj district, to search for gold. Following Naser’s killing, Khodaydad filed a complaint against Zahidullah. Two days later, Khodaydad was himself killed, the sources said.
Local sources have accused members of the Taliban of involvement in the killings, though no evidence has been independently verified.
Taliban authorities have not commented publicly on the incidents.
The killings have heightened concerns among members of Afghanistan’s Ismaili community, a religious minority concentrated in parts of Badakhshan and other northern provinces, amid ongoing security and accountability challenges under Taliban rule.
