Taliban Shuts Down Over 30 Ismaili Places Of Worship In Badakhshan

In its latest report, UNAMA said the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue authorities, working with several other bodies, had begun closing Ismaili Jamatkhanas (sacred spaces for prayer) in Badakhshan in January and ordered worshippers not to use them for prayer.

According to the report, Taliban officials said the buildings should instead be used as mosques.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released its quarterly report covering April to June on Tuesday.

The restrictions affected 17 Jamatkhanas in Zebak district, 14 in Ishkashim and two in Wakhan.

In response to UNAMA, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said field assessments showed that conditions differed from one Jamatkhanas to another and that decisions had been made on a case-by-case basis.

The Taliban said some areas lacked mosques and that some Jamatkhanas were being used as residential buildings.

UNAMA also reported that during Ashura observances, the Taliban instructed Shia communities in Parwan and Logar provinces to hold ceremonies only in designated mosques.

The mission also confirmed that 45 Shia men were detained in Kabul for displaying Ashura flags.

399 Civilians Killed Or Wounded In Afghanistan In Three Months, Says UN

Jul 28, 2026, 12:44 GMT+1

UNAMA says at least 57 civilians were killed and 342 others wounded in armed clashes along Afghanistan’s borders between 1 April and 30 June, with most casualties attributed to Pakistani security forces.

The quarterly report, published on Tuesday, 28 July, said six women were killed and 34 others wounded during the clashes.

It also recorded casualties among 112 children, including 31 killed and 92 wounded.

UNAMA released the report as part of its quarterly assessment of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

According to the report, air strikes and ground clashes were the main causes of civilian casualties during the period. UNAMA said all the casualties were recorded along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The report said the highest numbers of civilian casualties occurred in Paktia and Paktika provinces during Pakistani air strikes on 28 June, and in Kunar province as a result of shelling between 27 and 29 April.

UNAMA said Paktia, Paktika and Kunar recorded the highest civilian casualty figures during the reporting period.

Former Afghan Security Personnel Still Face Killings And Torture, Says UN

Jul 28, 2026, 11:38 GMT+1

The United Nations says killings of former Afghan security personnel are continuing, documenting eight deaths and 29 cases of arbitrary arrest or detention between April and June 2026.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, released its latest quarterly report on the country’s human rights situation on Tuesday. The report covers the three-month period from April to June 2026.

During this period, UNAMA documented at least 29 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, five cases of torture and ill-treatment, and eight killings of former members of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces and officials of the former government.

UNAMA stressed that former government officials and former Afghan security and defence personnel who are forcibly returned to the country continue to face a serious risk of human rights violations after their return.

Taliban Assaults Failed In Zebak of Badakhshan, Says AFF

Jul 28, 2026, 10:44 GMT+1

The Afghanistan Freedom Front says its forces repelled several Taliban attacks in Zebak district of Badakhshan at around 10pm local time on Monday.

The front said its forces launched counterattacks from two directions after repelling the Taliban assaults, forcing Taliban fighters to retreat after suffering casualties.

Afghanistan Freedom Front said on Tuesday that five Taliban members were killed and four others wounded in the clashes, while its own forces suffered no casualties.

Earlier, local sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that “heavy clashes” had again broken out between Afghanistan Freedom Front forces and the Taliban in Zebak district on Monday evening. According to the sources, the clashes began with a Taliban attack and continued for several hours.

Local sources said on Tuesday, 28 July, that Taliban fighters suffered casualties in the clashes and withdrew from some of their positions.

The exact number of casualties and losses on both sides has not been independently verified, and Taliban officials have so far not commented on the fighting.

According to sources, clashes in Zebak district have now continued for nearly a week.

In recent days, the Afghanistan Freedom Front has also released several videos and claimed that it has captured several Taliban checkpoints in Zebak district.

Based on information received by Afghanistan International from local sources, the Taliban has sent ground and air reinforcements to Zebak district since the start of the clashes to strengthen its forces.

Despite the deployment of reinforcements, sources said the fighting is still continuing and the situation in the district remains tense.

Head Of Taliban Information & Culture Killed In Badakhshan

Jul 28, 2026, 09:16 GMT+1

Taliban police in Badakhshan have confirmed that Zabihullah Amiri, the group’s head of information and culture in the province, has been killed in an attack by two motorcyclists.

In a statement on Tuesday, Taliban police said Amiri was killed while travelling to his office on the Baharak-Faizabad road. The Taliban said Amiri’s bodyguards killed one of the attackers.

Ehsanullah Kamgar, the Taliban police spokesman in Badakhshan, also said the group had arrested the second perpetrator of the attack.

Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Badakhshan was assassinated on Tuesday, 28 July.

According to the sources, the Taliban official was killed in the Kol Dasht area near Baharak city.

Information received by Afghanistan International indicates that the driver of the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Badakhshan was also wounded in the attack.

Sources said Taliban forces surrounded the area after the attack.

They added that the body of the Taliban official was transferred to Baharak clinic.

Amiri was reportedly attacked while travelling from his home in Baharak towards his office in Faizabad.

No individual or group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban official was assassinated as attacks by armed opponents of the Taliban, particularly the Afghanistan Freedom Front, have increased in Badakhshan in recent days.

Opposition Lacks Will & Ability To Fight, Says Taliban Culture Minister

Jul 27, 2026, 16:44 GMT+1

The Taliban’s information and culture minister, Sher Ahmad Haqqani, discussed the group’s recent clashes with opposition forces in Badakhshan during a meeting with media officials in Kabul.

Referring to recent developments in Badakhshan, Haqqani said every war should be examined from five perspectives.

He said it was first necessary to identify the attackers and their financiers, determine who was providing them with shelter, establish their objectives and assess how much local support they had in the areas where they were fighting.

The Taliban’s information and culture minister said an examination of these factors showed that “in reality, nothing has happened”.

Haqqani claimed the Taliban administration could prove to the public, “even to opponents and foreigners”, that conditions in Afghanistan were better than before and that “the people are happy and satisfied”.

Speaking on Monday, 27 July, following opposition attacks in Badakhshan, Haqqani described the situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as good and unprecedented.

He also claimed that the public was cooperating with the Taliban administration.

In his speech, Haqqani referred to Taliban opponents as “murderers, highway robbers and oppressors” and claimed they had no public support.

His remarks come as political and military groups opposed to the Taliban have carried out offensive operations in north-eastern Afghanistan, particularly in Badakhshan, in recent days.

The attacks began last week when the newly formed Sepah-e Mihan Front briefly seized Yaftal district for several hours.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has also continued attacks against Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

The front says it has carried out continuous attacks over the past four days and destroyed two Taliban drones.

On Sunday, the Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed that its forces had advanced five kilometres towards the centre of Zebak district and captured two more Taliban posts.

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