KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A young Afghan man who had recently returned from Belgium was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in eastern Nangarhar province, local sources said, in the latest reported killing of returnees from Western countries.
The victim, identified as Taj Ahmadzada, was killed by gunfire at about 10 p.m. local time on Thursday near his home at the Marastoon Intersection in the seventh district of Jalalabad, the provincial capital, the sources said.
Ahmadzada had returned to Afghanistan from Belgium about a month earlier, according to the sources. They provided no additional information about his background or whether he held Belgian citizenship.
The circumstances of the attack remain unclear. The motive and the identity of those responsible were not immediately known.
Taliban authorities in Nangarhar have yet to comment on the killing.
The killing follows a series of other reports of mysterious and targeted killings across Afghanistan in recent months, including several involving Afghans who had returned from Western countries.
Last month, a man identified as Nangyali, who had returned from the United States, was mysteriously killed near his home in eastern Khost province, according to local sources and Taliban authorities. He was a former member of the U.S.-backed Afghan special forces known as the Khost Protection Force during the previous government.
The Taliban, which seized power in 2021, says it has restored security across Afghanistan. However, reports of targeted and mysterious killings, along with other violent crimes, continue to emerge from various parts of the country.
A March 2026 report by rights group Rawadari documented at least 611 cases of targeted, mysterious or extrajudicial killings and injuries across Afghanistan in 2025, an increase of more than 40% from the previous year.
Residents, civil society activists and rights organizations have repeatedly raised concern about the authorities’ ability to prevent such violence, carry out transparent investigations and hold those responsible to account.
