Afghanistan: At least 6 killed, including two clerics in Herat province

Kabul [Afghanistan], December 2 (ANI): In an attack by unknown armed assailants, at least six people were killed, including two clerics in the Jibril district in Afghanistan’s Herat province on Friday, Khaama Press reported, citing local media.

According to reports, when the attack took place, they were on their way back from a memorial ceremony for a Hazara priest in Anjil Herat’s Khoshroud district.

The attack occurred at 2 p.m. on Friday, some 10 kilometres from the city centre, near the Shaheedan and Kuh-e Melli neighbourhoods in Herat’s Jibril district, according to Khaama Press.

The clerics who were targeted in the attack were identified as, Mohammad Taqi Sadeghi and Mohammad Mohsen Hamidi. They were targeted while they were attending a memorial ceremony in Herat.

Quoting local media reports, Khaama Press reported that at least four Hazara clerics or religious leaders have been assassinated in Herat in the last one and a half months.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan previously announced that they were looking into the “very concerning” assassination of two Shia clerics in Herat.

This comes at a time when the international community is concerned about the growing human rights violations of the Taliban resulting in the deterioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

The UN official, Richard Bent, has urged for an independent investigation into the incident and the punishment of the culprits under international principles. Despite the Taliban’s pledges regarding security, security concerns are increasing, particularly for the Hazara group.

The violent persecution of the Afghan Shia Hazara goes back more than a century but has reached unprecedented levels under the Taliban. The targeting of Hazara houses of worship, schools, and other public places has also intensified since the Taliban took control in August 2021.