Abdullah Rahimi, a former deputy director of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security in Ghor province, was shot dead while attending evening prayers at a mosque near his home in the Taywara district of Ghor on Saturday, according to local sources.
Rahimi is the third former member of Afghanistan’s security forces reported killed in Ghor over the past month.
During the former Afghan republic, Rahimi served as deputy head of the National Directorate of Security in the central province of Ghor and previously headed intelligence operations in Taywara district. He was also affiliated with former lawmaker Ibrahim Malekzada and the Jamiat-e-Islami party.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the killing, and the Taliban have not commented on the incident.
The attack follows the fatal shooting of Mohammad Hussain, the former police commander of Ghor’s Shahrak district, who was killed by unidentified gunmen near Herat airport about two weeks ago.
Earlier, another former security official, Sirajuddin, a former police commander in Taywara district who was also affiliated with Malekzada, was shot dead outside his home in the Pai Hisar area of Ghor by assailants riding motorcycles.
Military and security analysts said the killings have renewed questions about the Taliban’s declared general amnesty for former government officials and members of the former security forces, announced after they returned to power in August 2021.
“The continuation of these killings raises serious concerns about the implementation of the Taliban’s amnesty decree,” one security analyst said.
The Taliban have repeatedly said they remain committed to the amnesty and have denied systematically targeting former members of the previous government or security forces.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), however, has continued to document alleged abuses against former government personnel.
In its latest quarterly human rights report, UNAMA documented 23 cases of arbitrary arrest, nine cases of torture or other ill-treatment, and five killings involving former officials and members of the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly called for independent investigations into attacks on former Afghan security personnel and greater accountability for those responsible.
