KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Zabul province say the body of an elderly man was found hanging from a tree in Qalat, the provincial capital.
The sources said the man’s body was discovered on Tuesday, September 15, in an area of Qalat’s Fourth Police District. They said the man had been hanging from a tree with a rope and that his body was later transferred to a government hospital.
The identity of the man and the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Local Taliban authorities in Zabul have not publicly commented on the incident.
The incident comes days after the reported killing of another Afghan resident in Kabul. On September 12, Fakhr Alam, a resident of Panjshir, was reportedly stabbed to death by unidentified attackers in the Khair Khana area while returning home with friends. The case was reported on September 14, while the motive and identities of the attackers remained unclear.
Cases involving bodies found in public places have periodically been reported from different parts of Afghanistan, although the circumstances vary and it is not always possible to establish whether a death resulted from suicide, murder or another cause without an investigation. UNAMA has also documented cases of extrajudicial killings and other serious human-rights violations in Afghanistan in recent years, including killings attributed to de facto authorities and other armed actors.
UNAMA’s latest human rights update, covering April to June 2026, documented at least 29 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, five cases of torture or ill-treatment, and eight killings involving former security personnel. The mission also said Afghans forcibly returned to the country continued to face significant risks, citing the disappearance of a former Afghan National Army officer shortly after his deportation from Iran.
Previously in 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.
While the Taliban say they have restored security nationwide since returning to power in 2021, residents, civil society activists and rights groups continue to express concern over the protection of civilians, the absence of independent investigations and the lack of accountability for those responsible.
