Taliban intelligence forces, acting on orders from Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, arrested former senior Taliban member Mullah Muttasim Aghajan at
Summary
Taliban intelligence forces, acting on orders from Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, arrested former senior Taliban member Mullah Muttasim Aghajan at his madrasa in Aino Mina, Kandahar City, on Sunday evening (September 13, 2026). He was taken to a Taliban intelligence interrogation facility near the group's police headquarters; his whereabouts are subsequently unknown. Several visiting religious scholars — Nazar Mohammad Afghani, Najibullah Muneeb, and Zahid Rashidi — are reportedly being held at the madrasa. No charges or official explanation were provided. The arrest appears linked to Aghajan's hosting of a private gathering of religious scholars and his recent activities facilitating Afghan-Pakistani dialogue. This is his second arrest by the Taliban in 2026; he was also arrested in April 2026 and briefly released.
Where
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Placed to district level. Sources name the district; no coordinates have been established, and the exact address is withheld.
Legal classification
Each code names the treaty provision the conduct engages, so the assignment can be checked rather than trusted.
Arbitrary arrest / detention · primary
ICCPR Art. 9; UDHR Art. 9
Assigned from the reported conduct and confirmed on review.
Enforced disappearance
ICPPED; ICCPR Art. 9
Assigned from the reported conduct and confirmed on review.
Suppression of press / journalists
ICCPR Art. 19; UDHR Art. 19
Assigned from the reported conduct and confirmed on review.
Also coded as: Enforced disappearance, Freedom of expression
Sources
One report only. Nothing corroborates it yet, which is why this entry is graded single-source rather than confirmed.
How this entry was made
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Cite this entry
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Afghanistan Human Rights Center, “Taliban intelligence forces, acting on orders from Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, arrested former senior Taliban member Mullah Muttasim Aghajan at”, entry AHRC-2026-0913-KAN-01, grade: Single-source, 2026-09-13. Retrieved 7 October 2026.