Taliban official slays Iranian-Kurdish mother and daughter following unsuccessful forced marriage effort

A Taliban member shot dead a 15-year-old girl and her Iranian-Kurdish mother after his bid to seize the teenager for a forced marriage collapsed, according to a knowledgeable source who spoke with The Jerusalem Post following a Kurdistan Human Rights Network report released on Monday.

Sara Yousefi and her mother Chiman Hosseinzadeh were killed by Mufti Mohammadullah, who leads the Taliban Hajj and Endowments Department in Kohistanat district, during his attempt to seize the girl on May 8.

Hosseinzadeh resisted the abduction, prompting Mohammadullah to shoot both victims.

The chest wound on Sara showed that the shooter acted with clear intent to kill, the source stated.

Mohammadullah beat both Yousefi and Hosseinzadeh before the shootings, leaving visible marks on the teenager face and signs of struggle throughout the home, the source added.

The source noted that Mohammadullah had already entered three marriages before pursuing Yousefi, although details on those unions stay uncertain.

Killer detained yet relatives dread his reach

The teenager father reportedly agreed to Mohammadullah proposal for financial gain, while her mother opposed it. Hosseinzadeh was reportedly barred from travel to Iran, and before the deaths relatives received requests to aid the pair return to her homeland.

The mother and daughter were interred last week in Kahriz-e Sardar in Bukan.

Although the suspect sits in custody and court proceedings have begun, the source said the family avoids travel to Afghanistan to monitor the case because of Mohammadullah power and connections.

They hold scant trust that Taliban courts will deliver justice, the source claimed, and the relatives have sought diplomatic help to urge the Taliban to pursue the case.

Yet justice appears unlikely in the end, the source concluded.

The killings of Yousefi and Hosseinzadeh occur amid broader Taliban restrictions on women since the group took power in 2021. Females have lost many liberties they held under the prior government.

Girls near age 13 face bans from secondary school, women cannot attend universities, and the United Nations projects a 25 percent rise in child marriages by 2026.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed alarm this week over reports of women held for violating Taliban dress rules. Local outlets noted 21 women and girls detained in Herat province.

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett stated on Tuesday that protests erupted in Herat over the detentions and that reports indicated excessive force used to quell the demonstrations.

Under Taliban morality rules a woman face counts as intimate, forcing full facial coverings.

UNAMA voiced concern over multiple arrests of women in Herat for alleged dress violations, which raises serious human rights issues, in a late Sunday post.

The mission reminded authorities that all people hold rights to free movement and equality before the law.