KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Three people were killed and four others wounded after gunmen opened fire inside a mosque in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, local Taliban authorities said, attributing the incident to a family dispute.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Taliban police command in Baghlan said the attack took place in the “Chawkak” area of Khinjan district at around 6:40 p.m. on Monday, April 13.
Authorities said the violence stemmed from a long-running family dispute involving an earlier case in which a man from one family, who is now in Taliban custody, allegedly helped a married woman leave her home.
According to the statement, the shooting occurred during evening prayers when the woman’s father and brother entered the mosque and opened fire on relatives of the man involved in the case.
The four wounded were initially taken to a district hospital in Khinjan before being transferred to a provincial hospital in Baghlan for further treatment, authorities said, without providing details on their condition.
The Taliban police command said two suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, while another suspect fled the scene. Efforts to locate him are ongoing.
Violence linked to personal and family disputes remains a recurring issue in parts of Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas where formal legal systems are limited and local mechanisms are often used to resolve conflicts.
These disputes commonly involve issues such as marriage, elopement, separation, or perceived violations of family honor, and are often shaped by deeply rooted social norms in which family honor is considered central.
In many rural communities, such cases are traditionally handled through mediation by elders or local jirgas rather than courts. However, rights groups say these informal systems can sometimes delay resolution or allow tensions to escalate into violent confrontations, including killings, which often go unreported or are not fully investigated.
