KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources say the body of a six-year-old girl has been found inside a sack in the center of Herat city, western Afghanistan.
A source told KabulNow newspaper that the girl’s body was discovered on Friday, August 28, in the Jui Naw area of Herat city.
The source identified the girl as Maryam and said she was from a poor family living in the Ama Sakina area of District 12, in Herat city’s Guzar 18.
According to the source, Maryam’s father is a daily wage laborer and the family lives in a rented house.
The source said Maryam’s body was found at around 7:00 a.m. on Friday inside a bag, with initial indications suggesting that she had been strangled with a cloth. Witnesses said a piece of cloth was found around the child’s throat when her body was discovered.
The KabulNow source said that the perpetrator has not yet been identified and that the motive for the killing remains unknown.
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, local media and residents have reported an increase in so-called “mysterious killings” as well as multiple cases of child abductions across different provinces. While the Taliban have, in some instances, confirmed abductions and claimed their forces successfully recovered abducted children, many cases remain unresolved.
This incident adds to a surge in mysterious killings and criminal activities across Afghanistan in recent years.
At least six people, including a woman and a former Afghan security forces member, have been killed in separate incidents in Badghis, Daykundi, Nangarhar, and Helmand provinces this month.
In most of these cases, the victims were reportedly shot dead by unidentified armed individuals or unknown gunmen. The perpetrators and motives remain unclear, while there has been no reported investigation or accountability in the incidents.
The killings have occurred in different parts of the country and have affected civilians as well as former members of the Afghan security forces, highlighting growing concerns over security and the lack of transparency surrounding unexplained violence in Afghanistan.
In its recent report released earlier this month, Rawadari, a London-based human rights organization, documented at least 239 cases of mysterious, extrajudicial, and targeted killings, including those of women and children, across Afghanistan over the past six months.
The rights group emphasizes that the actual number could be much higher, as it was unable to document all cases due to the Taliban creating an atmosphere of fear and exerting pressure on victims’ families to keep such information hidden.
