JALALABAD — A 23-year-old man died by suicide in the eastern province of Nangarhar, a spokesman for Taliban’s provincial police command, Hammad Tayyib, confirmed Sunday. This adds to a growing number of such incidents among young people in the country.
The incident occurred in Surkhrod district, the spokesman said. He claimed the individual had a history of drug addiction and had lost mental stability. The young man’s family has not publicly addressed the cause of his death.
Mental health challenges are an increasingly visible but rarely addressed issue in Afghanistan, where economic hardship, social stigma, and lack of services continue to weigh heavily on the population.
This case follows another reported suicide just a day earlier in Kandahar, where a young man, identified as Fida Mohammad, took his own life at home after posting a final message — “Goodbye” — on Facebook. Authorities in Kandahar have not publicly commented on the incident, and the motive remains unclear.
While data on suicide in Afghanistan remains limited, observers note a troubling rise in such cases, particularly among youth. Many of these incidents are linked to poverty, unemployment, drug addiction and domestic violence — conditions that have worsened in the years since the Taliban returned to power.
