Former Afghan Army Commander Killed Brutally In Parwan, Say Sources

The force, known as the “Hibati” unit, will reportedly receive higher salaries and benefits than other Taliban forces.

According to the sources, the special unit is being established specifically to maintain security along the border with Pakistan.

Once fully organised, responsibility for monitoring the Durand Line and directing any military movements, clashes or ceasefires along the frontier will be placed under the unit’s command.

Two sources in Kandahar and Kabul told Afghanistan International: “Existing soldiers will remain at their posts along the Durand Line, but overall control and command will rest with this new unit. Whether there is conflict or not, the authority to make decisions on all such matters will lie with this force.”

According to the sources, 4,000 members of the unit are already stationed at a brigade base in Kandahar’s Zhari district, where registration and organisational procedures are under way. Another 4,000 personnel are currently in Kabul undergoing the same process.

The sources said members of the unit will receive greater pay and privileges than other Taliban fighters. The force will operate directly under Hibatullah Akhundzada and will not fall within the organisational structure of the Taliban’s security ministries.

One source closely following the recruitment process said: “There is no ordinary soldier rank in this unit; recruitment begins at officer level. Their benefits are substantial and they answer only to Sheikh Sahib (Hibatullah Akhundzada). They are neither under the Ministry of Defence nor the Ministry of Interior.”

Sources within Taliban circles told Afghanistan International that most recruits come from Kandahar, Uruzgan and Helmand provinces, with a smaller number drawn from Zabul.

According to the sources, the unit is expected to receive advanced US-made military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, including night-vision devices, vehicles, operational helicopters and reconnaissance drones.

They added that once recruitment is complete, members of the force will receive training in topography, border patrol operations, preventing illegal crossings, anti-smuggling missions, surveillance, reconnaissance, tracking suspects, and the use of GPS technology, drone cameras and reconnaissance drones.

Regarding the command structure, sources said: “Four thousand personnel will remain in Kandahar and another four thousand in Kabul. They will be deployed on missions whenever Akhundzada issues a direct order.”

The sources did not identify a commander for the force but speculated that one of the Taliban’s regional commanders may eventually be appointed to lead it.

Analysts view the initiative as an effort by the Taliban leader to tighten control over border clashes, patrols, security posts and movements along the Durand Line.

The force is being formed at a time of heightened tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan. On Friday, June 19, the Taliban claimed to have carried out drone strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, saying they had targeted ISIS-K facilities.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting confirmed a Taliban drone incursion but said one drone had been shot down before reaching its target. The Taliban Defence Ministry appears to have launched the operation in response to recent Pakistani strikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Khost and Paktia provinces.

Ahead of World Refugee Day, the organisation said millions of people have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence and protracted crises.

Alongside Afghanistan, countries such as Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and Palestine account for around 70 percent of the world’s refugee population.

The number of displaced people worldwide has continued to rise as a result of armed conflict, violence, long-running crises and climate-related disasters, forcing millions to leave their homes.

Caritas said the trend reflects growing pressure on the global refugee protection system and called on countries to uphold their commitments under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The organisation also stressed the need to avoid deterrence-based policies, strengthen the principle of non-refoulement, ensure sustainable humanitarian support and expand international cooperation to assist refugees and host countries.

According to the 2026 Global Report on Internal Displacement, around seven million people in Afghanistan were internally displaced during the past year as a result of prolonged conflict and natural disasters.

This year’s United Nations theme for World Refugee Day is “Until Everyone Is Safe”. However, Afghan refugees continue to face insecurity, extensive restrictions and an uncertain future in many countries.

At the same time, amid growing pressure on asylum systems, the European Union is expected to meet Taliban representatives in Belgium at the EU level to discuss the return of Afghan migrants, a move that has drawn international criticism.

Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence claimed it had carried out air strikes overnight against what it described as ISIS-K-linked centres in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected the claim as false.

The ministry’s fact-checking unit said: “Terrorist camps including that of Daesh and more than two dozen other terrorists organisations are factually located, run and patronised from inside the territories under control of Afghan Taliban regime..”

The ministry also released images of the downed drone and accused the Taliban administration of issuing false and misleading statements to conceal its alleged support for militant activities in neighbouring countries and the wider region, including activities linked to ISIS-K, the Baloch separatist movement, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups.

Meanwhile, local residents in a remote part of Khyber district near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border reportedly discovered the wreckage of drones said to have been brought down overnight.

The debris was found far from populated areas.

Semester examinations have begun at public and private universities across Kandahar. Several students said Taliban checks on their appearance before or during exams have disrupted academic activities and increased pressure on students.

According to the students, anyone who fails to comply with the Taliban’s beard regulations is prevented from sitting examinations, and in some cases is taken away by Taliban officials for further questioning.

One student told Afghanistan International: “We are in the middle of our exams, but suddenly morality inspectors arrive and remove some students from the classroom. They do not care how many months a student has worked hard or how missing an exam could affect their future.”

He added that several students had already been prevented from taking examinations and were forced either to retake certain subjects later or face academic difficulties.

Another student said: “This is not limited to exam periods. Morality inspectors used to come to the university before exams, stop classes and deliver lengthy speeches. Sometimes an hour or more of teaching time was lost.”

Some officials at private universities have also expressed concern, saying the strict restrictions have reduced attendance and discouraged some students from continuing their studies.

An administrative employee at a private university in Kandahar said: “When the educational environment is dominated by fear and pressure, it is natural that students face serious difficulties.”

A resident of Kandahar said the strict approach of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice extends beyond universities. According to him, people whose beards have been trimmed or shaved are also questioned and sometimes detained in public.

Students, lecturers and families insist that universities should be centres of learning, intellectual development and professional education. They say they attend university to study but now face conditions that hinder their academic progress.

The ministry claimed the centres had been used, with support from some intelligence networks, to plan attacks against Afghanistan and that several deadly attacks had previously been launched by them.

It said “important and intended targets” were struck in the attacks.

The ministry said on Friday that the strikes were carried out in the Gulistan area of Qila Abdullah district and in the Shakar Ab area of Girdi Jungal in Chagai district, both in Balochistan. The Taliban claimed that “joint centres belonging to subversive elements and Islamic State members were targeted”.

According to the Taliban’s Defence Ministry, an Islamic State Khorasan Province-linked centre was also struck in the Qambar Khel area of Orakzai district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ministry said some senior IS-K leaders had regularly visited the site.

The Taliban said “important, pre-determined targets were successfully struck” during the operation.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement: “From now on, Afghanistan will not allow any threat or danger to its security and stability and will use all available means to eliminate it at its source.”

Pakistani officials and independent sources have not yet commented on the attacks or any possible casualties.

Pakistan recently carried out air strikes on targets in the eastern and south-eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar, Khost and Paktika.

Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry said its military conducted strikes in areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on June 9. It said the operation targeted those who had planned recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and killed 26 members of the Pakistani Taliban.

A Taliban spokesperson confirmed that Pakistan had struck targets in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan had “bombed civilian homes in Kunar, Khost and Paktika”.

The spokesperson said 13 people were killed and 14 others wounded in the attacks.