Taliban Official Defends One-Man Leadership, Warns Of Chaos

The EU said it stands alongside the Afghan people in efforts to combat narcotics.

In a post on X on Friday, the EU delegation said it supports drug treatment and rehabilitation centres across Afghanistan in cooperation with the World Health Organization, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other partners.

The EU added that one of the key elements of its efforts is helping children who have been indirectly affected by addiction return to school. It also said it supports programmes aimed at preventing relapse among recovering drug users and promoting alternative livelihoods in Afghanistan.

Earlier, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned in its World Drug Report 2026 that the unprecedented decline in opium production in Afghanistan, alongside the spread of synthetic opioids, is reshaping the global drug market.

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

Informed sources say he has organised his forces in recent days and held extensive meetings with residents in Nusay district.

According to the sources, since returning to his traditional power base, Fateh has increased his field presence while strengthening the deployment of fighters under his command, suggesting he is preparing for any potential developments.

Kabul's offer rejected

Sources close to Fateh said efforts had been made to open talks and offer him a new position, but the Taliban commander has rejected any return to the power structure.

Two sources who recently met him in person told Afghanistan International that Fateh responded to the proposals by saying: “I am in my own home. I do not want a position. I will stay here. I will not fire the first shot.”

According to the sources, he has nevertheless kept his forces on high alert and remains fully prepared both militarily and logistically.

They added that Fateh believes the mountainous terrain of Badakhshan would make it difficult for Taliban forces based in Kabul to launch a successful operation against his positions.

Juma Khan Fateh, one of the Taliban’s most influential commanders in north-eastern Afghanistan, is known among his supporters as the “Conqueror of Darwaz”. In recent weeks, he was removed from his post as deputy governor of Zabul after a dispute with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar over the management of local resources and gold mines.

Observers believe his dismissal without being assigned another position is part of a broader effort to sideline non-Pashtun commanders within the Taliban’s power structure.

Now, with his return to Badakhshan, increased military activity, strengthened force deployments and rejection of Kabul’s proposals, attention has increasingly focused on the possibility of a confrontation between the dissident commander and the Taliban leadership.

Taliban officials have not commented publicly on the reported developments.

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.