Afghan Witness Reports

In recent weeks, there has been a spate of incidents in Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat city in which the Taliban have displayed the bodies of men they describe as ‘kidnappers’, ‘insurgents’ or ‘thieves’.

This is the first time ISKP have directly addressed reports of a Taliban raid.

After eight weeks without any high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, ISKP target two high-ranking officials on consecutive days.

Interviews with women in the sector reveal that some organisations have replaced their female directors with men to allow operations to continue, while one president of a women-focused NGO says she is using her personal savings to keep office doors open.

While one of the protesters was reportedly released the next day, women's rights protester Narges Sadat is thought to still be in detention.

The account presents itself as the news outlet Afghanistan International, which has been a common target for mimic accounts – AW investigators have identified at least five accounts mimicking Afghanistan International in the last three months.

Several hundred people gathered at Kabul International Airport on February 8 after rumours circulated that Afghans could fly to Turkey to support the earthquake relief effort – however, AW’s assessment of the arrested men’s social media profiles suggests they were not initiators or significant amplifiers of the ‘flights to Turkey’ story.

This was the second raid on an alleged ISKP hideout in Kabul in 2023 - and comes at a time when several embassies and international organisations have suspended operations or evacuated staff over concerns of a large-scale attack.

The burning of the Quran provides a relatively easy opportunity for the Taliban to mobilise public opinion and protest – and position themselves as defenders of the Islamic faith

AW found 13 Taliban-linked accounts with the blue tick, though several have since lost their mark of verification.

While there have been many claims of public punishments in Afghanistan over the past four months, this was the first instance where AW investigators obtained visual confirmation.

The Taliban claimed that two key resistance commanders, Daud Khatar and Mansoor Jawanmard, were among the detainees, however, AW found no visual proof of commander Khatar’s arrest.