Taliban Forces Surround Office of Afghanistan's Shia High Council in Kabul's Karte Char

Taliban forces surrounded the office of Afghanistan's High Shia Council — a body established in coordination with the Taliban and reportedly backed by its intelligence apparatus — in the Karte Char area of Kabul at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The Taliban did not publicly disclose a reason for the operation. The move extends a week-long crackdown on Shia institutions in Kabul: Taliban forces first surrounded the Khatam al-Nabieen seminary and ordered its evacuation on September 5, detained three prominent Shia leaders — Sufi Gardizi, Sayed Hassan Sharifi Balkhabi and Mohammad Hossein Sangardoost — on September 6, then forcibly evicted seminary students and detained 28 more (24 remain held) on September 7. The Taliban government has not commented on the Karte Char operation.