Protester Killed, Dozens Injured In Herat Protest, Says Witness
An eyewitness to Tuesday’s protests in Herat told Afghanistan International that he personally witnessed one person being killed and at least 22 others injured during the protest.
An eyewitness to Tuesday’s protests in Herat told Afghanistan International that he personally witnessed one person being killed and at least 22 others injured during the protest.
Other local sources also reported civilian casualties and said there may have been at least one fatality. However, the exact number of dead and injured has not yet been independently verified.
The protests erupted in Herat’s Jebrail area in response to a recent wave of arrests targeting women by the Taliban. According to witnesses and local sources, Taliban forces opened fire in an attempt to disperse demonstrators and suppress the protests.
Sources also said Taliban authorities detained a number of protesters and later visited hospitals in search of injured demonstrators and individuals believed to have participated in the protests.
Local sources reported that the Taliban simultaneously deployed additional forces to the Jebrail area as tensions escalated.
The Taliban has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.
China’s representative at the UN Security Council called on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools to girls. He said that the fundamental rights of the Afghan people, including access to education, must be respected.
Speaking at Monday’s Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, the Chinese envoy said the UN secretary-general’s annual report showed that Afghanistan had faced restrictions on education for girls above sixth grade for a fifth consecutive year.
He said the Afghan authorities should take meaningful steps to ensure that girls have access to education and employment opportunities.
The Chinese representative added that while Afghanistan’s overall situation remains relatively stable, challenges persist in the fight against terrorism.
He said the international community should adopt a more coordinated approach towards Afghanistan and continue maintaining pragmatic engagement with the Taliban.
According to the envoy, declining international assistance, the large-scale return of displaced people and the crisis in the Middle East could contribute to tensions and instability in Afghanistan.
He noted that less than 20 per cent of the humanitarian funding required for Afghanistan has been secured, leaving many Afghans vulnerable to hunger and disease.
The Chinese representative also said the UN Security Council should facilitate travel and official engagements for Taliban officials.
A document obtained by Afghanistan International indicates that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued a new verbal order banning the use of smartphones by the group members and government employees.
The document describes violators as offenders and warns they could face military court proceedings.
The order was circulated by the Taliban Justice Ministry to the heads of military courts operating under the military division of the Taliban Supreme Court across eight zones of the country. Police commanders and intelligence chiefs in those zones were also informed of the directive.
According to the document, military court officials have been instructed to ensure the order is fully enforced and to provide assurances to the Taliban leadership regarding its implementation. A special monitoring list has also been created, recording the name, position, place of service, mobile network and phone number of each individual subject to oversight.
Officials have additionally been instructed to confirm that the order has been enforced among employees and personnel under their authority.
The Taliban has previously imposed restrictions on smartphone use and on the publication of images depicting living beings. In 2025, Hibatullah Akhundzada urged Taliban members to reduce their use of smartphones.
Three days ago, a separate directive from the Islamic education department of the Taliban Education Ministry instructed students not to bring smartphones to schools or religious seminaries.
The Taliban’s higher education minister has also previously described smartphones as “one of the three main enemies of Muslims”. In October last year, he informed universities and educational institutions that smartphone use was prohibited during working hours and on university premises, with only university presidents and heads of educational centres permitted to bring smartphones to work.
Documents obtained by Afghanistan International show that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued a new decree regulating gold panning activities. The decree, dated May 18, 2026, is being published by Afghanistan International for the first time.
Under Article 1 of the decree, all state-owned land deemed suitable for gold panning is classified as “protected land”, and its use or occupation without authorisation from the Taliban administration is prohibited.
Article 2 requires the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to lease suitable state-owned land to individuals or companies for fixed periods under the Taliban’s state land leasing regulations, allowing them to deploy equipment and machinery for gold extraction.
Article 3 places particular emphasis on environmental protection. The ministry is instructed to charge lease fees consistent with the public interest, ensure environmental protection funds are used solely for that purpose, require lessees to restore land to its original condition after operations end, and collect financial guarantees to ensure compliance with rehabilitation commitments.
Article 4 states that lease payments may be made in cash, gold or an equivalent form of value. However, accepting a portion of extracted gold as rent is prohibited.
Gold-Sharing Formula
Article 5 stipulates that one-fifth of all gold extracted is to be allocated to the Taliban administration, while the remaining four-fifths belong to the company or individual carrying out the extraction.
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum is also required to conduct gold-panning operations directly where necessary (Article 6) and to draft the regulations needed to implement the decree (Article 8).
Exceptions for Private Landowners
If a gold deposit is located on privately owned land, the owner is permitted to extract the gold but must surrender one-fifth of the output to the Taliban administration.
However, if the deposit is found within a private home, courtyard or shop, the owner is exempt from paying the one-fifth share and may retain all extracted gold, provided the activity does not harm the public interest.
The Ministry of Mines may also act as an intermediary, with the owner’s consent, by leasing private land to companies. In such cases, the ministry can collect both brokerage fees and the one-fifth share.
The decree comes as gold panning has become one of the Taliban’s main revenue sources in north-eastern Afghanistan and has simultaneously fuelled growing public protests in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces.
Local residents have complained about severe environmental damage caused by Chinese companies and their local partners, arguing that communities have received little benefit from the mining operations.
The Taliban has recently halted unauthorised mining activities and the operations of unlicensed companies in both provinces, a move that has reportedly angered local commanders and miners.
On Sunday, June 7, residents of Nusay district in Badakhshan’s Darwaz region staged a protest demanding the resumption of local mining activities.
Some speakers warned that continued restrictions could trigger a “popular uprising”.
In an effort to strengthen central control over Badakhshan’s mining sector, Akhundzada has deployed a new 1,000-member force to the province and has dismissed, transferred or imprisoned several local officials.
The decree is the first known directive issued specifically on gold panning by the Taliban leader and appears aimed at balancing economic exploitation, environmental protection and tighter central control over the sector.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Sirajuddin, a former police officer in Ghor province and a former jihadi commander, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Sunday afternoon.
He was known to be a close associate of former Ghor governor Mohammad Ibrahim Malikzada.
The killing took place in Pay Hisar village in Taywara district of Ghor province.
According to sources, the former security officer was attacked and killed by motorcycle-riding assailants outside his home.
Sources said that since the Taliban returned to power, 10 people close to Mohammad Ibrahim Malekzada, including members of his family, have been killed.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the killing of Commander Sirajuddin.
The Taliban authorities have not yet commented on the incident.
The Taliban’s Justice Ministry has announced the publication of a Law on the Preservation of Jihadi Heritage after it was approved by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The law consists of two chapters and 14 articles and designates the Taliban’s Directorate for the Preservation of Jihadi Heritage as the main body responsible for its implementation.
According to details released by the ministry, the law defines the responsibilities and structure of the Directorate-General for the Preservation of Jihadi Heritage in collecting, organising and documenting records and materials related to the Taliban’s 20-year insurgency against the US-led coalition forces.
The directorate is tasked with registering all documents, records and artefacts connected to that period and overseeing their publication and presentation as part of the group’s wartime legacy.
In addition to documenting the recent conflict, the law requires the directorate to compile a comprehensive history of the two-decade war against the US presence in Afghanistan, the origins and development of the Taliban movement, and detailed accounts of the group’s first period in power during the 1990s.
The law also assigns the body responsibility for documenting conflicts against former Soviet forces and British military campaigns in Afghanistan.
The move forms part of the Taliban’s broader efforts to shape and institutionalise its own interpretation of Afghanistan’s modern history.
The Taliban leader has previously stressed the importance of preserving what the group describes as jihadi heritage so that future generations can learn from it.
Some observers view the law as a step towards promoting a one-sided historical narrative and reinforcing Taliban ideology, arguing that it focuses primarily on events and perspectives favoured by the group.