The Taliban has reacted to a surge of resistance attacks over the summer months with a wave of further repression. Minorities, primarily but not only Afghanistan’s large Shia community, have been targeted since the Taliban takeover 5 years ago. However, this was stepped up significantly in September, with a wave of closures of Shia religious, cultural, education and healthcare institutions, as well as arrests and harassment of the broader community. Shia media outlets have also been targeted, with at least three closed down in recent months.
Taliban officials on 21 September reportedly dissolved the High Council of Shia and warned its members not to try to return to their office. Members of the council had reportedly been summoned to the Ministry of Justice. The dissolution of the Council came soon after five of its members including its chairman Mohammad Ali Akhlaqi were detained by the Ministry of Justice.
Officials from the de facto Ministry of Justice also raided the Khatam al-Anbia Scientific and Cultural Complex on 21 September in Kabul. Armed men from the ministry reportedly detained a number of religious scholars and guards from the complex, which they then closed down and sealed. Khatam al-Anbia, located in the Dasht-e Barchi district, was an important gathering place for the Hazara community in western Kabul.
The Taliban’s de facto ministry of higher education had in mid-September revoked the operating license of a Shia seminary that had locations in Kabul and Ghazni. A Taliban official claimed the seminary had failed to follow appropriate policies and had ‘insulted’ Islam. The ruling came soon after the seminary was raided by armed Taliban on 5 September; during the raid Taliban fighters reportedly arrested 28 people including students and religious scholars.