RASC News Agency: A string of violent incidents across multiple provinces has once again underscored the alarming rise in insecurity and lawlessness under Taliban rule. Despite the group’s repeated claims of having restored nationwide security, reports from Panjshir, Kabul, and Badakhshan reveal a deeply fractured state where criminality, targeted killings, and intra-group violence are on the rise with civilians often caught in the crossfire. In Panjshir province, local sources have confirmed a bloody altercation in Rokha district, where a man from Nuristan was fatally stabbed and a woman was injured in an apparent act of interpersonal violence. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening, June 23, in the village of Estaycha, and ironically both the victim and alleged perpetrators were reported to be Nuristani residents.
The Taliban police command in Panjshir issued a statement acknowledging the incident and described the motive as a “personal feud.” According to their version, two suspects were arrested and confessed during interrogation a routine claim in Taliban reports that often lack transparency, due process, or independent verification. This incident is just one in a disturbing trend of escalating violence in recent days. On the very same day, three separate violent events were recorded in Kabul and Panjshir alone. In one particularly tragic case, a 12-year-old boy was shot and killed near Kabul Airport’s traffic circle during an armed confrontation between two Taliban members. Eyewitnesses report that a verbal dispute between the fighters escalated into gunfire in a public space, endangering civilians and revealing the pervasive indiscipline within Taliban ranks.
Meanwhile, in Kabul’s 16th police district Tapa-e-Nader Khan area a shopkeeper named Zahidullah, originally from Khost, was shot dead in broad daylight. Taliban officials later confirmed the killing and, in an all-too-familiar refrain, attributed it to a “personal dispute.” Again, the alleged perpetrators were reportedly apprehended. Further north, in Badakhshan province, a religious cleric linked to the Salafist school of thought, Mawlawi Khairullah, was reportedly killed while in Taliban custody. Sources told RASC that the cleric had been detained five days earlier by Taliban forces while working inside his home in the Shuhada district. His body was later found floating in a river in the Razwan-Jangal area on the morning of Wednesday, June 25.
Although visible signs of torture were not reported, family members claim they were denied all contact or information during his detention, raising serious concerns about custodial abuse and extrajudicial killing. Local residents believe the cleric likely died under interrogation, and that his body was dumped in the river to conceal evidence. This is not the first time Salafi scholars have been targeted in northeastern Afghanistan. There have been numerous previous reports of arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and killings of Salafi-affiliated clerics in Badakhshan and other provinces, with Taliban intelligence forces frequently identified as the perpetrators. Despite mounting evidence, the Taliban leadership has consistently failed to provide any credible explanation or investigation.
The escalation of violent crime, targeted assassinations, and factional killings has provoked growing fear among ordinary citizens. While the Taliban continues to project an image of control, ground realities point to deteriorating law and order, and a regime unable or unwilling to stem the tide of criminality and extremist violence. Non-governmental assessments and independent field reports suggest that public security has worsened since the Taliban’s return to power, with armed groups and terrorist cells most notably Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) gaining momentum.
According to sources within the Taliban, over twenty armed factions now operate within Afghanistan, many enjoying tacit political and military support from elements inside the regime. International intelligence agencies have repeatedly sounded the alarm, warning that the unchecked expansion of extremist networks in Afghanistan threatens not only domestic stability but also regional and global peace. Despite these warnings and extensive documentation from neutral sources the Taliban leadership continues to deny the existence or threat of such groups, further eroding its already diminished credibility on the international stage.
As Afghanistan spirals further into insecurity, it is increasingly clear that the Taliban’s claims of delivering “security and order” are nothing more than hollow propaganda. For many Afghanistani citizens, violence, fear, and impunity have become the new normal under a regime that lacks both moral legitimacy and the capacity to govern responsibly.
