Taliban Shut Down Shia Religious School in Western Kabul, Arrest Its Administrator and Several Teachers

Taliban Shut Down Shia Religious School in Western Kabul, Arrest Its Administrator and Several Teachers
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According to the sources, Taliban forces surrounded the compound on Monday, September 21, before removing students and staff and shutting down the school building, the Martyr Mazari Prayer Hall, and the administrative sections of the complex. Reports also said that Sayyid Hassan Fazelzadeh, the school’s administrator, along with several clerics and teachers, were detained.

Located in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of western Kabul, Khatam al-Anbiya School is part of a well-known religious and cultural complex serving Afghanistan’s Shia community in the capital. Sources said Taliban authorities claim that the land on which the complex was built belongs to the state and must be vacated, though the future of all facilities within the compound remains unclear.

The closure follows the evacuation of the Khatam al-Nabieen Seminary, one of Afghanistan’s largest and most prominent Shia religious educational institutions, approximately two weeks earlier after it was surrounded by Taliban forces. The Taliban Ministry of Justice linked its actions against the seminary to a dispute over land ownership and alleged connections between the institution and a political party, while seminary officials rejected those claims.

The successive measures against Shia institutions in Kabul have raised concerns among members of the Shia and Hazara communities, particularly as several religious and cultural centres have reportedly been closed or evacuated in recent weeks.

As of the publication of reports on the Khatam al-Anbiya School closure, Taliban authorities had not issued a detailed official statement regarding the reported arrests or the status of those detained.