Taliban Skips Ashura While Tightening Restrictions On Shia Muslims

The sources said Taliban forces beat members of the former official’s family while arresting him.

Local sources told Afghanistan International on Friday, 26 June, that the Taliban transferred Farashghani to an unknown location after his arrest. His family has received no information about his condition or whereabouts.

According to the sources, Taliban intelligence planted explosives, weapons and ammunition near Farashghani’s home on 24 June before raiding the property. They said the former serviceman was arrested on the pretext that the weapons and explosives had been discovered there.

The sources added that the Taliban’s intelligence service is using new methods to arrest former military personnel. They described planting mines, weapons and ammunition near the homes of soldiers and commanders from the former government, and then entrapping them, as among the Taliban’s new methods of carrying out reprisals.

Farashghani had previously been detained by Taliban intelligence and was later released after a period in prison.

The Taliban has not yet officially commented on the former local police commander’s arrest.

In a statement on Friday, 26 June, the Afghanistan Media Support Organisation (AMSO) said the Taliban arrested the female journalist for working alongside a “stranger male cameraman” and transferred her and her colleagues to a Kabul police district.

According to the media rights group, they remained in Taliban custody until around the evening and were later released following mediation by media officials and family members.

For security reasons, AMSO did not identify the female journalist, the male cameraman or the media outlet involved.

The organisation described Taliban restrictions on the media as a clear violation of freedom of expression and the right of access to information. It said the Taliban had deliberately prevented coverage of the religious Ashura ceremonies.

The statement said covering religious and cultural events was part of the media’s professional responsibilities.

The two anti-Taliban military and political groups accused the Taliban of imposing restrictions on Shia religious ceremonies and undermining the country’s long-standing religious and cultural pluralism.

In a statement issued on Friday, 26 June, the National Resistance Front said the area stretching from Dasht-e-Barchi in western Kabul to Badakhshan had become “the geography of a contemporary Karbala”.

Without naming the Taliban directly, the NRF said “the swords of oppression and injustice” had been imposed on the Afghan people and were targeting the values of tolerance, equality and mutual acceptance.

The front accused the “enemies of Afghanistan’s dignity” of pursuing a “Yazidi policy” by enforcing discrimination and seeking to eliminate the country’s religious, ethnic and cultural diversity.

In an apparent reference to the Taliban, the statement added: “They want the people to bow to oppression and pledge allegiance to their false claim, but the message of Ashura is to remain steadfast in upholding Imam Hussein’s blood-red legacy and never surrender to the coercion of the takfiris.”

Videos received by Afghanistan International showed that Ashura commemorations were widely observed on Friday in several parts of Herat, including Jebrail, Bakrabad and Andisha Township.

In a separate statement, the Afghanistan Freedom Front said this year’s Ashura took place amid what it described as burdensome Taliban restrictions on mourning ceremonies and the personal conduct of Shia mourners, warning that such measures were fuelling “religious hatred and tension in Afghanistan”.

The group said the removal of Muharram flags and symbols, together with the arrest, intimidation and humiliation of Shia Muslims in recent days, were clear examples of “systematic discrimination and the promotion of religious hatred” against Afghan citizens.

Several prominent Afghan political figures also issued messages marking Ashura, including former President Hamid Karzai, former Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar and former lawmaker Fawzia Koofi.

Karzai said Imam Hussein had launched a profound reform movement by exposing social injustice and calling for change. He said Imam Hussein remained steadfast until his death in order to awaken society and encourage people to take responsibility in the face of wrongdoing, leaving behind the enduring legacy of Karbala.

Atmar described Ashura as one of the most enduring and inspiring events in Islamic history, saying it had permanently embedded the values of freedom, justice, patience, sacrifice and steadfastness in the pursuit of truth within the collective memory of Muslims.

Koofi said Ashura teaches resistance against oppression, authoritarianism and tyranny, as well as the defence of truth. She added that the events of Karbala demonstrate that the voice of truth can never be silenced.

In recent days, the Taliban has imposed extensive restrictions on Muharram mourners in Kabul, Herat and several other cities. Taliban authorities removed Muharram flags and religious symbols from public spaces, while the group’s justice minister detained several Shia community elders over the organisation of mourning ceremonies.

As Ashura commemorations were under way on Friday, local sources and residents in Kabul, Herat, Bamiyan and Ghazni told Afghanistan International that mobile telecommunications services had been cut off since early that morning.

Some residents, however, said Wi-Fi internet services remained available and that only mobile phone networks had been disconnected.

The ministry said the specialists are working in local hospitals and carrying out several complex operations each day.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry said the team includes senior specialists in orthopaedics, traumatology, cardiology, paediatrics, general surgery, urology, pulmonology and epidemiology.

According to the ministry, the mission is primarily focused on treating patients suffering from severe injuries and congenital musculoskeletal disorders.

The orthopaedic specialists are said to examine up to 40 patients each day and select the most complex cases for surgery. They perform between three and four reconstructive operations daily to help patients regain mobility.

The ministry noted that this is Kazakhstan’s second major medical mission to Afghanistan following the devastating earthquake that struck the country late last year.

It also said that alongside the medical mission, Kazakhstan delivered a large humanitarian aid shipment weighing a total of 318.8 tons to Afghanistan.

According to the report, published on Friday, Afghanistan, which produced around 80% of the world’s illicit opium until 2022, has seen opium production fall by 95% following the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation.

The area under poppy cultivation declined from around 232,000 hectares in 2022 to 10,200 hectares in 2025, while opium production fell from 6,200 tons to about 296 tons.

However, the UN says existing opium stockpiles in Afghanistan are expected to last until the end of 2026.

Heroin No Longer Dominates the Market

The UN says heroin’s century-long dominance of the global opioid market is now being challenged.

According to the report, two simultaneous developments are transforming the global opioid trade: the sharp decline in Afghan opium production and the rapid expansion of powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes.

It says these trends together are driving a fundamental shift in global opioid markets.

Traffickers Seek Alternatives to Heroin

The UN warns that reduced heroin supplies are pushing traffickers to seek new alternatives.

The report says actual or perceived disruptions in heroin supply could encourage traffickers to turn to synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, nitazenes and other emerging substances.

According to the UN, these drugs are cheaper, more potent and easier to manufacture than heroin because they do not require poppy cultivation.

The organisation says this trend could shift the global opioid market from plant-based narcotics to synthetic drugs.

Afghan Stockpiles Remain Available

Despite the collapse in production, the UN says Afghanistan’s remaining opium stockpiles have not yet been exhausted.

Its estimates suggest these reserves are likely to last until the end of 2026.

The report adds that continuing seizures of heroin and opium in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries are largely linked to these remaining stockpiles.

However, the volume of seizures has declined compared with the period before the Taliban’s cultivation ban, indicating tighter global supplies.

Heroin Prices Have Risen

The UN says lower heroin supplies have driven prices higher in consumer markets.

Across 12 major destination markets for Afghan heroin, the price of one gram of pure heroin nearly doubled during 2023 and 2024, rising from around $250 to almost $500.

At the same time, heroin purity has declined, reflecting growing pressure on supply.

No Country Has Replaced Afghanistan

The report says no other country has compensated for Afghanistan’s collapse in opium production.

Although Myanmar became the world’s largest opium producer in 2023, with production exceeding 1,000 tons, the UN says this increase is linked to the country’s internal conflict rather than Afghanistan’s reduced output.

Likewise, no significant rise in production has been recorded in Mexico or Laos.

Signs of Regional Relocation

The UN has identified early indications that some poppy cultivation may be shifting to countries neighbouring Afghanistan.

According to the report, the area of destroyed poppy fields in India and Pakistan increased from 5,868 hectares in 2022 to 13,200 hectares in 2023.

However, the organisation says that even if production rises elsewhere, replacing Afghanistan’s role quickly will be difficult.

Synthetic Opioids Continue to Expand

The report shows that after two years of decline, the number of new synthetic opioids detected in global markets increased again.

Cases recorded in 2023 and 2024 rose across most regions, with particularly sharp increases in Europe, Oceania and Africa.

In North America, where fentanyl has largely replaced heroin, the number of newly identified synthetic opioids rose by around 10% in 2024.

The increase exceeded 80% in Europe and reached about 150% in Oceania.

Global Drug Use Continues to Rise

The World Drug Report 2026 says global drug use continues to increase. Around 331 million people used drugs in 2024, a rise of 34% compared with a decade earlier.

Cannabis remains the world’s most widely used drug, with 256 million users. Around 63 million people used opioids, 32 million used amphetamines and 25 million used cocaine.

The UN says global cocaine production has reached a record high of more than 4,000 tons, while the market for synthetic drugs is expanding rapidly.

In 2024, the number of newly identified psychoactive substances worldwide reached 755, the highest level ever recorded.

According to the report, around 63 million people worldwide are living with drug use disorders, yet only one in 12 has access to treatment.

The UN concludes that the collapse in Afghanistan’s opium production, the rise of synthetic drugs, record cocaine production and shifting trafficking routes are collectively reshaping the structure of the global drug market.