Dissident Taliban Commander Puts Forces On Alert In Badakhshan

Sources told Afghanistan International that officials from some Shia mosques and religious centres invited Taliban authorities to attend Ashura ceremonies, but they declined the invitations.

The Taliban also prevented former Afghan President Hamid Karzai from attending an Ashura mourning ceremony.

By contrast, the Indian prime minister and Pakistan’s president and prime minister issued Ashura messages describing the occasion as an inspiration for perseverance in the pursuit of justice. India’s prime minister said Imam Hussein’s sacrifice inspired many people to remain steadfast in their search for truth and justice.

Restrictions on Shias Intensify

The Taliban’s actions during Muharram this year were not limited to declining to issue a message or attend ceremonies. Restrictions on cultural, educational and media institutions linked to the Shia community also increased.

In recent days, the Taliban shut down Tamadon TV, one of the few television channels belonging to Afghanistan’s Shia community. Taliban forces also closed the Khatam al-Nabieen religious seminary in Kabul, one of the largest centres of Shia religious education.

Last year, Maulawi Shahabuddin Delawar, a senior Taliban official and the group’s former mines minister, attended and spoke at an Ashura ceremony at the Khatam al-Nabieen seminary. He said Ashura had raised the voice of truth and struggle against oppression.

In recent days, the Taliban’s justice minister also detained dozens of mosque officials and Muharram mourners in his private prison for raising Muharram flags.

On Thursday, the Taliban’s deputy minister of urban development and housing criticised the justice minister’s action.

Ashura Symbols Banned in Cities

Reports from Kabul and several other Afghan cities indicate that the Taliban imposed extensive restrictions this year on the public display of Ashura religious symbols.

According to local sources, Taliban forces prevented people from displaying religious flags and symbols on roads, in markets and in city squares, and removed them in some areas.

Sources in western Kabul said the Taliban had banned vehicles from moving around. On Friday, the Taliban also cut telecommunications networks in several cities, including Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Ghazni and Bamiyan.

Observers say the tightened restrictions, alongside the closure of Shia cultural and educational centres and limitations on religious activities, reflect an increasingly hard-line Taliban approach towards Afghanistan’s religious and cultural diversity.

The National Resistance Front and Afghanistan Freedom Front, two military and political groups opposed to the Taliban, accused the group of fuelling sectarian tensions by placing pressure on Shias.

The Afghanistan Media Support Organisation also reported on Friday that the Taliban had detained a female journalist and her colleagues in Kabul for covering Ashura ceremonies. The organisation expressed concern over growing restrictions on journalists and media outlets covering the occasion.

On Thursday, the Afghanistan Shia Ulema Council said the Taliban had recently detained several officials from Shia mosques and religious centres for displaying Ashura symbols.

The council also expressed concern over the removal of Muharram symbols, the suspension of Tamadon TV and the closure of the Khatam al-Nabieen religious seminary.

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.