Afghan Taliban said Wednesday that security forces had killed a fleeing rebel commander in a shootout near the Iranian border.
The Ministry of Defense identified the man he killed as Mawlawi Mehdi. Mawlawi Mehdi, who hails from his community of Shiite Hazaras, the country's minority, joined the Sunni-based Taliban last year before it seized power from the then-internationally-backed Afghan government.
The ministry has called Medhi the "rebel leader" of Barqab, a coal-rich area in the northern province of Sal-e-Pol, and he has been with some soldiers in a nearby He said he fled to the mountains. His fighter after rebelling against the Taliban government.
A rebel commander was captured and shot dead in Herat province in western Afghanistan, according to a statement.
"[Mehdi] was trying to flee to Iran when intelligence and security forces targeted him and punished him for his actions in the Herat-Iranian border region," the ministry details. wrote on his Twitter without revealing.
Mehdi's supporters did not immediately comment on his killing.
The Hazara commander was appointed chief of intelligence for neighboring Bamiyan province after the Taliban occupied Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Taliban fired Mehdi in April for undisclosed reasons. He returned to his native Barcab and organized an armed rebellion.
The Taliban sent several delegations to negotiate a peaceful settlement, but he refused, urging him to launch a clearing operation in the area in June. Military action forced the rebels to flee to the nearby mountains.
The minority Hazara community, mainly based in the central and northern provinces, considers itself a politically persecuted religious group in Afghanistan.
