KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local sources in Afghanistan’s northeastern Nuristan province say unidentified gunmen have shot and killed a young man in Wama district.
The sources identified the victim as Obaidullah Kapitanzada, who was reportedly shot in the Akt-Bin area after noon on Thursday, September 24. He sustained serious injuries and died at a hospital on Friday, according to the sources.
Sources said Kapitanzada, who was around 40 years old, was shot in the head. Further details about his background or the motive behind the killing remain unclear.
Local Taliban authorities in Nuristan have not publicly commented on the incident.
The incident comes amid continuing reports of unexplained killings and violence across Afghanistan, with the circumstances and perpetrators of some cases remaining unclear. 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.
The reported cases highlight continuing concerns over unexplained violence and the ability of authorities to identify perpetrators and establish accountability. The figure is based on publicly reported cases and may not represent the actual number of such killings across Afghanistan.
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.
