KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The local sources in eastern Afghanistan say that an eight-year-old girl has been mysteriously killed by unknown individuals in the Narang district of the Kunar province.
A source told KabulNow that the girl was named “Saira” and was killed on Thursday (June 12) in the “Debrang” area of Naranj district.
The source added that Saira was a third-grade student and had gone to her uncle’s house in Debrang a few days before the incident for holidays.
According to the source, Saira went missing from her uncle’s house and a few days later local residents found her body.
Saira’s family members said that they had no personal enmity with anyone and do not know exactly who carried out the act or for what reason.
Meanwhile, the Taliban security command in Naranj, Kunar, confirmed the incident and said that one person has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the child’s murder.
The Taliban said that the arrested individual will be referred to judicial authorities after initial investigations.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, mysterious killings have been increasingly reported over the past five years. In most cases, the perpetrators and motives behind these incidents are not publicly disclosed.
Similarly, about four weeks ago, Taliban authorities reported that two men were killed in separate incidents in eastern Nuristan and southern Kandahar provinces within a 24-hour period.
According to Taliban police officials, a man identified as Mohammad Gul was killed in the Ada Kunar area near Parun, the capital of Nuristan province. In a separate incident, a tribal elder was shot dead at night in Dand district, south of Kandahar city.
Taken together, these cases reflect a continuing trend of so-called “mysterious killings” and violent crimes reported across different regions of the country. As a result, concerns have grown among local communities about public safety, limited transparency in investigations, and the lack of clear information about the motives and perpetrators behind such incidents.
These are the latest incident in a growing number of reported violent crimes and mysterious killings in different parts of Afghanistan in recent months. Local media and residents have reported several similar cases in the past few weeks alone, including the killing of a woman in Helmand province, a mosque imam in Nangarhar, a driver in Kandahar, and a private bank manager in Kabul.
A report released in March 2026 by Rawadari documented at least 611 cases of targeted, suspicious, or extrajudicial killings and injuries across Afghanistan in 2025, representing an increase of more than 40% compared with the previous year. According to the report, victims included former government employees, individuals accused of links to opposition groups, protesters, tribal elders, and other community figures.
While the Taliban claim to have restored security across the country, residents, civil society activists and human rights groups continue to raise concerns over the authorities’ ability to protect civilians, conduct transparent investigations and bring perpetrators to justice.
