Last week, the developments and actions by the Taliban ranged from the dismissal of eighteen employees of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat in Kunduz, and head and two deputies in Baghlan and appointing hardline mullahs in their stead – a move that provoked a public outcry – to Taliban in Ghor outlawing shaving beards. Badakhshan University officials banned all girls from classes without wearing a black hijab. Authorities in Takhar barred men with clean-shaved beards from entering government offices. Taliban also arrested political analyst Seyed Baqer Mohseni released him after two days of detention. Meanwhile, an ethnic Uzbek religious scholar from Sar-e Pul province has been in Taliban detention since last month. Former female senator Farida Kochi claims Taliban raided her house 12 firearms, a ranger-type vehicle and AFN 63 lakh in cash. Taliban also were responsible for two deaths during their search operations in Kabul; a pregnant woman died panicking after Taliban gunmen arrested her ex-commando husband in a house raid in Kabul. Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman died from a heart attack after the Taliban entered her house for a search.

Two Taliban soldiers killed two civilians in an execution-style murder in Kabul city after an altercation. An old man was killed when a Taliban patrol car ran over him in Dasht-e Barchi neighborhood. In a similar incident in Daikundi province, a doctor was killed after a Taliban truck ran over his motorcycle. In Baghlan, a driver was killed after Taliban gunmen hit him in the head for passing a checkpoint. In the same province, a local commander killed a resident of Khost district after a verbal clash. Taliban gunmen also shot and wounded two schoolteachers in Kandahar’s Panjwai district. In a kangaroo court in Kunar, the Taliban prosecuted two singers and destroyed musical instruments in Kunar. After a roadside bomb in Kandahar, Taliban guerillas went berserk firing in the air, injuring two civilians. Taliban reportedly killed an Uzbek commander loyal to Marshal Dostum in Jawzjan for alleged links to Turkestan Tigers. In a fierce clash in Nimroz province, the Taliban reportedly killed five Iranian border forces after crossing into Afghanistan and threatening Afghan farmers working on a canal at Kamal Khan dam.

Shootings involving non-Taliban actors (at least not ascertained yet) include killing a child and a man suspected of having former military links in Ghor province; a civilian and a former government soldier were shot dead in Herat; Assailants shot dead a moneychanger in Sancharak district of Sar-e Pul. Five members of a family were mysteriously murdered in Herat’s Injil district; a girl was found murdered with her hands tied in western Kabul; a former Interior Ministry officer was also found dead in Balkh.

NRF continued its attacks against the Taliban; in Panjshir’s Anaba district, NRF stormed a Taliban checkpoint and fired rockets on another outpost in Kapisa. A Taliban convoy also came under attack in Charikar town of Parwan province, in which a Taliban truck was destroyed and casualties were inflicted. NRF forces killed a senior Taliban commander in Kunduz city. At least three Taliban gunmen were wounded after a roadside bomb struck their patrol vehicle in Faizabad city in Badakhshan. A Taliban commander was killed and five soldiers injured after an armed attack in Nangarhar. Taliban raided several civilian homes in the area after the attack and arrested several people. Commander of Taliban’s 209 Al-Fath Corps was killed in an attack in Mazar-e Sharif.

In only one protest, women in Panjshir gathered on the occasion of International Women’s Day and condemned Taliban suppression of human rights.

Taliban’s secretive leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on US “most wanted” list, showed his face for the first time at a parade for new Taliban police recruits in Kabul. Moreover, a key IS-K commander surrendered to the Taliban in Nangarhar.