KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Residents gathered outside the Khatam al-Nabieen religious seminary in Kabul on Saturday after Taliban forces surrounded the Shia religious and educational centre and ordered its evacuation.
Videos circulated on social media showed people gathered outside one of the seminary’s gates, chanting “Allahu Akbar.” Local sources told KabulNow that residents had gathered after officials at the seminary called on people to come and protest the Taliban’s actions.
The sources said Taliban forces were attempting to detain instructors at the seminary and had used violence against students and teachers, with several students reportedly beaten.
Mohammad Jawad Mohseni, head of Tamadon TV, said on Saturday that Taliban forces had detained 12 instructors from the Khatam al-Nabieen seminary. In a Facebook post, Mohseni said the arrests were intended to pressure the seminary’s officials into vacating the premises. The report of the 12 arrests was also published by several Afghan news outlets.
Earlier, local sources reported that Taliban forces affiliated with the Ministry of Justice had deployed military personnel and equipment around the seminary in an effort to force its complete evacuation. Sources said the operation was carried out on the orders of Abdul Hakim Sharaei, the Taliban’s acting justice minister. Videos shared on social media appeared to show Taliban military vehicles entering the seminary compound.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has claimed that the Khatam al-Nabieen complex was built on government-owned land and should therefore be brought under Taliban control. Seminary officials, however, reject the claim and say they possess legal documents establishing their rights to the property. They have also said that the land-ownership case remains before a Taliban court and that no final ruling has been issued.
The dispute over the property is part of a broader pattern in which the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has declared certain properties or institutions to be state-owned or built on what it describes as “usurped” government land and subsequently ordered their closure or evacuation. In the case of Khatam al-Nabieen and the affiliated Tamadon TV, Taliban authorities have cited both the alleged state ownership of the land and other political considerations in their actions. Seminary and media officials have disputed those claims and said they hold legal ownership documents.
The Khatam al-Nabieen seminary is one of Kabul’s best-known Shia religious education centres. It was established in 2007 by Mohammad Asif Mohseni, a prominent Afghan Shia cleric and political figure, and is located on Dar-ul-Aman Road in Kabul. The institution has provided religious education and has also been involved in academic, research and cultural activities. A number of Afghan Shia clerics and students have studied and taught there.
The seminary is affiliated with other institutions established by Mohseni, including Khatam al-Nabieen University and Tamadon TV. Taliban authorities have also taken action against these institutions. According to local reports, the Taliban took control of Khatam al-Nabieen University last week and appointed a president and four deputies.
The latest confrontation has raised concerns among members of Kabul’s Shia community, particularly amid reports of arrests and the use of force against students and protesters. Taliban authorities had not publicly provided a detailed explanation for the reported arrests or the evacuation operation at the time of publication.
