RASC News Agency: In a harrowing escalation of violence, Taliban forces once again opened fire on unarmed civilians this time during a funeral procession in the Khash district of Badakhshan province killing at least one mourner and wounding a dozen others, according to multiple local sources. The incident occurred early Tuesday morning, July 1, as villagers gathered to bury victims of a Taliban assault the previous day. Witnesses report that armed members of the Taliban launched a fresh attack on the grieving crowd, unleashing live fire without provocation. Several of the injured are in critical condition, and fears of further violence loom large.
As part of what appears to be a deliberate strategy to isolate the region, the Taliban has also reportedly cut off telecommunications networks across Khash district, effectively plunging the area into an information blackout. This move has hampered emergency medical coordination and left residents unable to contact loved ones, adding psychological torment to physical devastation. The funeral shooting followed a violent crackdown just 24 hours earlier, during which Taliban militants opened fire on civilians in the district, killing multiple individuals, including a woman. According to local reports, that assault was prompted by rising tensions between residents and the Taliban’s occupying forces, who have been accused of widespread intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial violence.
“The Taliban didn’t just disrupt a funeral they desecrated the very sanctity of mourning,” said one resident, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security fears. “This is no longer just oppression it is psychological warfare.” The district of Khash, nestled in the mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan, has in recent weeks become a microcosm of Afghanistan’s broader collapse into authoritarian rule. Once known for its defiant spirit and vibrant local culture, the region is now suffocating under Taliban-imposed restrictions and systemic violence.
Security analysts warn that the Taliban’s repeated use of force against non-combatants, particularly in minority-dominated and historically resistant regions, is deepening the fault lines of internal discontent. “What we are witnessing is not governance it is the weaponization of fear,” noted one regional expert. Despite Taliban claims of having brought “security and stability” to Afghanistan, reports from across the country especially the northeast reveal a regime increasingly reliant on brutal crackdowns, ethnic favoritism, and militarized control, rather than any form of consent or legitimacy.
The group’s decision to attack a funeral not only violates the cultural and religious sanctity of mourning rites but also constitutes a potential war crime under international humanitarian law. Yet in the absence of a functioning justice system or international accountability mechanisms, Taliban impunity continues to flourish. As Afghanistan slips further into repression, the world remains largely silent, allowing the Taliban to escalate their reign of violence against civilians with near-total impunity. The people of Khash, and countless others across the country, are left with no state protection, no independent media, and no international intervention only fear, grief, and blood on the soil that once gave them hope.
