ISIS-K Claims Responsibility for Assassination of Badakhshan Intelligence Chief

The ISIS-Khorasan branch has claimed responsibility for the killing of Zabihullah Amiri, head of intelligence and culture for the Taliban administration in Badakhshan province, highlighting the ongoing targeted attacks against officials in the administration.

French news agency AFP, citing the monitoring group SITE, reported that ISIS-Khorasan issued a statement on Wednesday saying its members targeted Amiri on Tuesday along the road to Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, killing him and one of his guards.

Taliban officials have also confirmed his death. According to a spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Badakhshan, two motorcycle riders attacked Amiri’s vehicle on the Faizabad-Baharak road; in the attack, one assailant was killed and the other detained.

Zabihullah Amiri was a prominent figure affiliated with the Taliban administration and the nephew of Emanuddin Mansour, the governor of Helmand province.

This attack comes while the Taliban administration continues to claim it has established nationwide security. Nonetheless, attacks by ISIS-Khorasan in several provinces, including those targeting officials, persist, raising concerns about the country’s security situation.