RASC News Agency: Continuing the trend of mysterious and targeted killings in various provinces of the country, local sources in Balkh province reported that unidentified individuals recently murdered four people, including two women, in Mazar-i-Sharif city. Sources from Balkh informed the media on Saturday, Feb 3, that these four individuals were killed last Thursday night in the Karteh-e-Khorasan area, within the jurisdiction of the seventh district of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The assailants initially injured these four individuals with knives and then suffocated them with cloth. A health official in Balkh also confirmed that the bodies of the four individuals, including two women, were transferred to forensic medicine and later handed over to their families after examination. Local Taliban authorities in Balkh province have not yet commented on this incident.
Moreover, it is still unclear who and for what reason these individuals were murdered. This comes as criminal activities, especially mysterious and targeted killings, armed robberies, and abductions, have significantly increased in various provinces of the country. In the latest incident, a man was fatally shot around midnight on Thursday, Feb 1, in the Qadis district of Badghis province by unidentified gunmen.
Despite the Taliban’s assertion of overall security control in the country following their takeover, reports of increased insecurity and criminal activities from various parts of the country continue to emerge.