The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) says its forces targeted a gathering of Taliban morality police at the entrance to the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice office in Herat on Friday night, June 12.
The group claimed that three Taliban morality officers were killed and two others wounded in the attack.
In a statement posted on X, the AFF said the attack took place at around 10:00 pm local time.
The group had previously described members and facilities of the Taliban’s morality police as “legitimate targets”.
Dawood Naji, the AFF’s political chief, told Afghanistan International: “We said it, and we did it.”
The group released a video it said showed the operation and stated that the attack was carried out in response to the harassment of women and the suppression of public protests by the Taliban in Herat.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front also urged Herat residents to stay away from Taliban military vehicles and gathering points.
Informed sources in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that a Taliban cabinet meeting chaired by Hibatullah Akhundzada was held in the province on Wednesday. According to the sources, the Taliban prime minister also attended, and 11 issues were discussed during the session.
Sources said that, in addition to Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Taliban intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq were present at the meeting. The Taliban has not yet released details of the discussions.
According to the sources, 11 different topics were raised during the meeting, though they declined to provide further details.
Previously, sources had told Afghanistan International that internal Taliban discussions over reopening schools and universities to girls had concluded and that Hibatullah Akhundzada intended to settle the matter by further enforcing restrictions, including the ban on publishing images of living beings.
Sources close to the Taliban in Kandahar had earlier said that Akhundzada continues to insist on the full implementation of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice law. According to them, he has issued serious warnings to cabinet members who privately oppose his directives.
Akhundzada first implemented many of his decrees in Kandahar, where no media outlet is now permitted to publish images of living beings. Local Taliban officials in the province also refrain from releasing photographs or videos of their activities.
This comes amid reports that Sirajuddin Haqqani disagrees with some of Akhundzada’s directives and has allowed Interior Ministry officials to continue publishing photographs and images freely.
Kandahar is among the provinces where the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue law and other strict decrees issued by Akhundzada have been fully enforced. However, in some provinces, including Kabul, Taliban officials have reportedly shown less commitment to implementing the leader’s orders.
Doctors Without Borders has condemned the detention of one of its healthcare workers in Herat by Taliban forces, saying it is “outraged” by the incident. The organisation confirmed that one of its staff members was held in detention for two days.
According to reports, the female aid worker was released along with her husband and several relatives after signing a pledge to comply with the dress code regulations enforced by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Tightening Restrictions and Security Measures in Herat
In recent days, the Taliban has significantly intensified restrictions on women in Herat and detained several women over their clothing, prompting public protests.
On Saturday, Taliban morality police detained dozens of women for what they described as failing to comply with the group’s prescribed dress code. The move sparked criticism from residents and led to demonstrations in the city.
UN experts have reported that at least two people were killed and more than 20 injured during clashes between Taliban forces and protesters.
Heavy Military and Intelligence Presence
Eyewitnesses and local reports indicate a heavy deployment of Taliban security forces across key areas of Herat. Military convoys comprising dozens of vehicles carrying heavily armed personnel have been stationed throughout the city. Taliban police and intelligence units have also established joint checkpoints.
Local sources say the measures were introduced after calls circulated on social media for protests to be held following Friday prayers.
Residents reported seeing suspicious civilian vehicles carrying plain-clothed individuals patrolling the streets and monitoring public movements. According to locals, the measures have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
New and Stricter Dress Code Rules for Women
Restrictions on women in Herat have entered a more stringent phase. The provincial branch of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has issued new directives governing women’s appearance.
Under the new rules, the use of cosmetics and the visibility of any portion of a woman’s hair are prohibited. Women are also required to wear face coverings and socks. The Taliban has warned that failure to comply could result in arrest, imprisonment and legal prosecution.
Second Protest in Herat
Despite the heightened security measures, a group of residents gathered outside the office of the Taliban governor in Herat on Friday to protest.
Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that Taliban forces dispersed the peaceful demonstration by opening fire.
Reuters has reported that the Donald Trump administration plans to transfer a group of migrants, including Afghans, to the Central African Republic. According to the report, the United States and the Central African Republic recently reached an agreement on the arrangement.
Reuters cited two lawyers and one informed official as saying that the first flight under the agreement is planned to carry around 20 asylum seekers. In addition to Afghans, the group includes asylum seekers from Syria and Iran.
Among the migrants are two Iranian women who were detained after entering the United States in November 2024.
Emily Trostle, the lawyer representing the two women, told Reuters that one is a Christian convert and the other a pro-democracy activist. She said both would face a serious risk of torture and persecution if forcibly returned.
According to the lawyer, her clients had previously obtained “withholding of removal” orders from a US immigration judge, indicating that the court found there was more than a 50 percent likelihood they would face torture or persecution in their home country.
However, the US government is reportedly using a legal loophole involving removal to a third country to send them to the Central African Republic rather than back to their country of origin.
A lawyer for a Turkish national, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his client had also fled political persecution and obtained a similar ruling, and was likely to be on the same flight.
The Central African Republic, the proposed destination for the migrants, has long struggled with chronic instability, extreme poverty and widespread internal violence.
Human rights lawyers have warned that sending migrants who sought safety in the United States to such a crisis-stricken country could place their lives at risk.
According to reports, the Trump administration has also held discussions in recent months about transferring Afghan refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country currently facing a deadly Ebola outbreak.
Last week, United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told a congressional hearing that Washington is in talks with several countries about accepting Afghan refugees currently in Qatar.
More than 80 Democratic and Republican members of Congress have signed an open letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for an immediate halt to plans to transfer Afghan refugees from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The letter concerns the fate of more than 1,100 Afghan nationals who are awaiting resettlement in the United States. Many of them previously worked with US military forces and have spent more than four years in limbo in Qatar.
Jason Crow, a Democratic congressman from Colorado and a former Army officer, said in a statement: “It’s both a moral and a national security imperative that our country live up to its promise and watch out for those who put themselves in harm’s way to help keep us safe.”
The lawmakers wrote that these Afghan refugees served alongside American troops during the United States’ 20-year mission in Afghanistan as interpreters, contractors and security personnel. They urged the State Department to facilitate their entry into the United States rather than transferring them to third countries.
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban governor of Herat, said compliance with the group’s dress code had been steadily declining in the province.
He described the women detained in Herat as suffering from “psychological and religious problems” and said authorities had been instructed to remove them from public areas.
Speaking to Al Emarah, a Taliban-affiliated media outlet, Islamjar described the detention of women over their clothing as an order from “God and His Messenger”. He claimed that some women in Herat had failed to follow the Taliban’s dress code because they had been influenced by “non-Afghan culture” while living in neighbouring countries as migrants.
The Taliban governor said the decision was implemented only after months of deliberation and years of waiting due to what he described as an urgent necessity.
“We have spent years and months considering different ways and solutions to enforce the hijab decree in Herat,” he said.
Islamjar claimed that wearing the burqa constitutes the traditional form of “Islamic hijab” in Herat. He added that, due to migration, the Iranian-style hijab has become more common and that women may move around the city wearing it, provided their faces remain covered.
According to the governor, the women targeted by the campaign are attempting to alter Herat’s “cultural, religious and historical identity”.
Islamjar also claimed that no women in Herat were detained by male officers. He said the arrests were carried out by female personnel trained in military and arrest operations.
However, videos circulated from the first day of the campaign in parts of Herat appear to show male morality police officers forcibly detaining women and girls.
The Taliban governor dismissed the footage, claiming that “all the images” broadcast by media outlets showing the arrests were fake and generated using artificial intelligence. He also insisted that no women or girls from Herat are currently being held in prison.
According to Islamjar, some of the women were disciplined by female officers and their families before being allowed to return home.
Without disclosing where the detainees had been taken, he said the women had been “advised and disciplined” in a secure location. He added that they were released after their families provided guarantees and discussions were held with relatives.
Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, has defended the controversial plan to invite Taliban representatives to Brussels.
He said the EU has no choice but to talk to the Taliban if it wants to return rejected Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan.
The remarks come amid a wave of criticism across Europe over the invitation, with some critics arguing that it represents a retreat from the EU’s core values and principles.
Brunner stressed that contacts with the Taliban are purely technical and operational and do not in any way amount to recognition of the group’s government.
“It’s no option not to talk to these people in order to improve the situation,” he said. “At least to improve the situation for Europeans, but also for asylum applicants and asylum-seekers.”
According to reports, around 20 of the EU’s 27 member states have signed a joint letter calling for practical mechanisms to deport Afghan nationals who do not qualify for residency, particularly those with criminal records or convictions for serious offences.
In recent years, the EU has shifted its migration policy focus from preventing arrivals to accelerating the return of rejected asylum seekers.
Human Rights Criticism
Human rights organisations and UN experts have strongly criticised the policy. They argue that forcibly returning asylum seekers to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, amid a severe humanitarian crisis, widespread poverty and sweeping restrictions on women and girls, is both unlawful and unethical.
The European Union says Afghan nationals lodged nearly one million asylum applications in member states between 2013 and 2024, with roughly half of them being approved.
Meanwhile, Germany has also begun deporting some Afghan nationals with criminal convictions since 2024.