Criminal offenses, including murder and robbery, have reached unprecedented levels across the country in recent days, alarming citizens. According to findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, at least 21 people were mysteriously killed in 10 provinces over the past week. The report found that four people were killed in Kabul, three in Herat, three in Badghis, four in Baghlan, two in Takhar, and five others across Paktika, Paktia, Faryab, Ghazni, and Balkh provinces.
Among those killed were two children, two women, two doctors, one businessman, one teacher, two tribal elders, and 11 young men, according to the Hasht-e Subh Daily. Images of the victims’ bodies show that at least six were killed in an extremely brutal manner.
Limited access to information remains a challenge for media in the country, and the actual death toll is likely higher than reported. Media restrictions may have prevented some cases from coming to light at all.
Residents in various provinces told the Hasht-e Subh Daily they are alarmed by the rise in mysterious killings and said the Taliban have failed to keep citizens safe.
The Taliban count the establishment of nationwide security among their key achievements of the past five years. Yet in recent months, mysterious killings have risen alongside growing activity by anti-Taliban fronts, mounting internal discontent, and targeted assassinations of the group’s fighters.
Mohammad Rashed, a Kabul resident, described the rise in criminal activity to the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “Theft, murder, and highway robbery have increased just like under the previous government. A young man from our area went missing a few days ago, and two days later his body was brought back from Paghman district. It’s still not clear why he was killed; some say it was over his car, others say his own friends killed him.”
A resident of Paktika province, speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on condition of anonymity, accused Taliban members of involvement in the killings. He said most of the murders are carried out by armed men within Taliban ranks, pointing to the killing of a former senator in the province: “There is no doubt the Taliban had a hand in the killing of Malik Hassan, a tribal elder and former senator. How else could several armed men show up in broad daylight, shoot a tribal elder, and simply walk away? There are only two possibilities: either a Talib pulled the trigger himself, or he was working with the killers.”
Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Jaghori district in Ghazni province, recounted the brutal killing of a young man there: “Abdul Khaliq was killed in a very brutal manner, and his body was burned. It was found in the mountains. He had been missing for several days. He worked in construction in Kandahar and had come home to Jaghori to visit his family. Ten days have passed since his murder, and it’s still not known who killed him or why. Who will be held accountable?”
Meanwhile, the killing of a businessman named Rezaei Laghi in Mazar-e-Sharif, who had returned to Afghanistan from Canada after several years abroad, has drawn widespread reaction on social media, with users questioning how he could have been killed inside his own home.
Citizens’ concerns over the rise in mysterious killings come as the Hasht-e Subh Daily recently reported an increase in cases of missing children across the country, pushing public anxiety over the lack of security to new heights.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
۲۱ قتل مرموز در یک هفته؛ نگرانی شهروندان از تشدید ناامنی در افغانستان
