KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities in northern Afghanistan’s Jawzjan province say a young man was stabbed to death in Aqcha district.
Abdul Sattar Halimi, spokesperson for the Taliban’s police command in Jawzjan, said the 31-year-old man, a native of Aqcha, was killed on Sunday, September 27.
Halimi said three people have been arrested in connection with the killing.
The motive and circumstances surrounding the murder remain unclear. The Taliban spokesperson said an investigation has been launched into the case.
The killing in Jawzjan comes amid reports of other fatal shootings in Afghanistan. On September 26, local sources in northeastern Nuristan reported that unidentified gunmen had shot Obaidullah Kapitanzada, around 40, in the head in Wama district. He was reportedly seriously injured and later died at a hospital. The motive and circumstances of the shooting remained unclear.
The incident is one of several recent reports of unexplained killings and shootings in different parts of Afghanistan, highlighting the continued occurrence of violent deaths even outside the country’s former major conflict zones.
Violent incidents, including killings resulting from personal disputes, armed confrontations and other criminal activity, continue to be reported from different parts of Afghanistan. In a report covering late 2025 and early 2026, UNAMA documented at least 12 extrajudicial killings of former government officials and former members of the Afghan security forces.
A March 2026, report by the Afghan rights group Rawadari documented at least 611 cases of targeted, mysterious or extrajudicial killings and injuries across the country in 2025. That figure represented an increase of more than 40 percent from the previous year. Victims included former government employees, individuals accused of links to opposition groups, protesters, tribal elders and other community figures.
Taliban authorities have repeatedly said that they have established nationwide security since returning to power in August 2021. However, reports of armed attacks, mysterious killings and other violent incidents continue to emerge from several provinces, although the circumstances and perpetrators in many of these cases remain unclear.
