KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Kandahar say that a 32-year-old driver has been stabbed to death in the province.
According to the sources, the incident occurred yesterday evening (Saturday, April 18) in the second district of Kandahar city.
Sources state that the driver had taken one man and two women to a garden, but upon arrival, he was stabbed to death by the passengers, who then fled the scene.
According to available information, the victim was named Janan and mostly worked as a driver transporting passengers along the Kabul–Kandahar highway.
So far, the cause and motive behind the killing remain unclear, and local Taliban authorities have not made any statements regarding the incident.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, cases of mysterious killings have increased in various parts of the country.
The causes of most of these killings remain unknown, while in some cases they are attributed to personal disputes or so-called “honor”-related issues.
Similarly, three days earlier, two men had been shot dead by unknown armed assailants in separate incidents in the northern provinces of Jowzjan and Samangan. In Samangan, a 35-year-old man named Fathullah had been killed inside his home in Aybak, while in Jowzjan, a 57-year-old man had been shot dead in Sheberghan.
In both cases, the attackers had fled the scene, and the motives behind the killings had remained unknown, with no arrests reported.
A report released in March 2026 by the UK-based human rights group Rawadari documented at least 611 cases of targeted, suspicious or extrajudicial killings and injuries across Afghanistan in 2025 — a rise of more than 40% from the previous year. The victims included former government employees, individuals accused of links to opposition groups, protesters, tribal elders and other community figures.
Taliban authorities have repeatedly claimed that they have restored order and enhanced security compared with the period before 2021. However, human rights groups and ordinary Afghans continue to criticize them for failing to protect civilians and for conducting transparent investigations into such crimes.
Furthermore, these incidents reflect an ongoing pattern of insecurity and lack of accountability, raising concerns among residents about personal safety and the continuation of unresolved criminal cases across different regions of Afghanistan.
This incident reflects the broader concerns about public safety and the lack of transparent investigations into violent crimes in Afghanistan, where many cases remain unresolved and perpetrators often go unidentified.
