Taliban Opens Fire On Yaftal Protesters, Causing Casualties

The two journalists were arrested on 23 June on the orders of Abdul Hakim Sharaee, the Taliban’s justice minister.

Sources said Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, instructed the group’s governor in Kabul to release them.

On 23 June, Taliban forces raided Tamadon TV’s headquarters in Kabul on the Taliban justice minister’s orders and halted the broadcaster’s operations. Mohammad Rahmati and Mohammad Reza Ehsani were detained following the raid.

The two journalists were held at the Kabul governor’s detention facility. The Taliban has not explained the reason for their arrests.

According to the sources, Rahmati and Ehsani were released on 5 July.

Informed sources previously told Afghanistan International that Rahmati suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. They said his health had deteriorated in Taliban custody and that he lacked access to medicine and medical care.

In June 2024, the Taliban’s Justice Ministry announced that Tamadon TV’s operations would be suspended because of its alleged affiliation with the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and its use of what the ministry described as state land that had been“seized illegally.

The ministry said media organisations belonging to Afghanistan’s political parties were not permitted to operate.

In a statement, the front said the organised attack took place on Friday evening, 31 July, along the route to Zebak district.

The statement said the men were unfamiliar with the local language and were reportedly due to join the fighting against the Freedom Front forces in Zebak.

The front also claimed that the presence of foreign terrorist groups alongside the Taliban showed that Afghanistan under the group’s rule had become a safe haven and breeding ground for the revival and expansion of international terrorism.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front described those targeted as foreign terrorists supporting the Taliban but did not identify their nationalities.

The Taliban has not officially commented on the incident.

Local sources in Badakhshan had previously confirmed clashes between the Taliban and opposition forces in Zebak district. A video obtained by Afghanistan International showed a helicopter flying over the area.

Sources said opposition fighters ambushed a Taliban convoy on Friday night in Sanglich village, Zebak district, as it was travelling towards the front line, causing casualties.

Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Pakistani army spokesperson, said in a news conference on Friday that the country’s forces had operated only against hideouts, training centres and infrastructure used by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan between October 2025 and the end of June 2026.

He claimed that those killed in the attacks were members of armed groups and that the operations were carried out in self-defence to protect Pakistani citizens.

Chaudhry also questioned reports by UNAMA and Amnesty International, saying they were largely based on accounts from sources inside Afghanistan who, according to him, operate under restrictions on freedom of expression imposed by the Taliban administration.

He added that the reports had ignored deadly attacks by armed groups against Pakistan, as well as air strikes carried out by foreign forces during the war in Afghanistan.

The remarks came after UNAMA said in a new report that at least 499 civilians were killed and 1,216 others injured inside Afghanistan between October 2025 and the end of June 2026 as a result of air strikes, artillery attacks and border clashes between Pakistan and the Taliban.

The UN mission said many of the victims were women and children. In some cases, people who went to rescue the wounded were targeted in a second strike.

According to UNAMA, one of the deadliest incidents occurred in Paktia province on 28 June, when two consecutive attacks on a residential building killed at least 22 people, including five children, and injured 185 others.

UNAMA stressed that under international humanitarian law, all parties to the conflict are required to protect civilians and humanitarian workers and avoid attacks that could result in civilian casualties.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of providing safe haven to members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an allegation the Taliban has denied.

Islamabad, meanwhile, says its cross-border operations in Afghanistan will continue.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the front said the attack took place near Pashdan Dam at about 10:30 pm on Thursday.

It said those killed were officers from the First Brigade of the Taliban’s Al-Farooq Army Corps.

According to the statement, no NRF fighters were harmed in the attack.

Local sources in Herat had earlier told Afghanistan International that they heard sporadic gunfire in the Pashdan Dam area on Thursday night.

Armed groups opposing the Taliban have recently increased their attacks in several parts of Afghanistan.

On 27 July, the National Resistance Front also reported an attack on a Taliban checkpoint in Badakhshan’s Kuran wa Munjan district.

He said such sanctions had proved ineffective in the past and would bring no benefit to either side now.

Speaking to Taliban-controlled National Television on Friday, 31 July, Mujahid said the UN Security Council should abandon what he described as wartime policies.

He added that no individual’s rights should be violated because of sanctions.

Mujahid called for cooperation and constructive engagement instead of what he described as failed and fruitless policies, saying this would help protect individuals’ rights.

The updated UN list includes the Taliban’s interior minister, minister of hajj and religious affairs, minister of mines and petroleum, director-general of intelligence and mayor of Herat.

The UN Security Council sanctions committee said the changes were purely administrative and technical and did not alter the sanctions status or restrictions imposed on the five Taliban officials.