KABUL – Maroof Ghulami, a former jihadi commander and longtime ally of Ismail Khan, was assassinated in Iran’s Mashhad city on Saturday, sources have confirmed.
A relative of Ghulami told KabulNow that he was shot dead in his office on Mufatteh Street. According to the account, Ghulami—also known as Haji Maroof Khan—had several guests in his office at the time, and the assailant was among them, posing as a visitor.
The source said that after the other guests left, the attacker fired two bullets into Ghulami’s head before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.
The identity of the shooter and the motive behind the killing remain unclear.
Maroof Ghulami had been close to Ismail Khan, one of western Afghanistan’s most prominent jihadi leaders, since his youth.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Ghulami fled to Mashhad, where he kept an office.
Neither Ismail Khan nor his associates have commented on the assassination.
The killing comes against the backdrop of repeated reports in recent years of mysterious arrests and assassinations of former Afghan commanders and security officials, despite the Taliban leadership’s announcement of a “general amnesty” after seizing power.
