KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, reported that unknown gunmen shot and killed a young doctor named Shehzad in the region.
Speaking with KabulNow today, a relative of the young man said he was gunned down in Nangarhar’s Rodat district on Thursday evening, December 19, while returning from work.
The source said the assailants fled the scene after shooting the young doctor.
According to sources, Shehzad, originally from Rodat district, had graduated from medical university and set up a health center in the region to serve the local community.
The motive behind this incident remains unknown, and the Taliban authorities have not yet made any comments.
This marks the third mysterious killing in Afghanistan in the past two days. On Thursday, unknown gunmen killed a man in northern Faryab province, and on Tuesday, a young man was shot dead by unidentified assailants in western Herat province.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, despite their claims of maintaining security, the country has witnessed a surge in mysterious killings and other criminal activities, adding to the mounting challenges faced by its population.
In its report published in August, Rawadari, a London-based rights group documenting human rights violations in Afghanistan, recorded 193 cases of killings or injuries in mysterious, targeted, and extrajudicial attacks over a six-month period. The victims included 181 men, 9 women, and 3 children.
The actual number, according to the rights group, may be much higher, as it was unable to document all cases due to the atmosphere of fear created by the Taliban, who exert pressure on victims’ families to keep such information hidden.
Most mysterious killing incidents remain uninvestigated, with perpetrators unidentified, as the ruling regime has proven incapable of investigating the cases or holding those responsible accountable.
