Taliban forces have arrested Mawlawi Abdul Malik, the former deputy head of the Panjshir Ulema Council, in Kabul, according to sources close to his family.

The arrest took place on Wednesday, at a mosque in District 15 of the capital. Malik was reportedly taken to an undisclosed location, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

Sources told Afghanistan International that Malik had previously been arrested by the Taliban in 2022 over alleged links to the National Resistance Front (NRF), a claim his family continues to deny. He was released after spending two years in custody.

Relatives now fear renewed accusations could endanger his life or lead to further mistreatment in detention, especially in the absence of any public legal proceedings.

Mawlawi Abdul Malik is originally from the village of Abdullahkhil in Dara district, Panjshir province. He previously served as deputy head of the Ulema Council in Panjshir and was the head of the Abdul Wahid Islamic School in the province.

This is not the first time a member of his family has been targeted. On 7 April 2023, Taliban forces arrested his brother, Payinda Mohammad, a former officer in Afghanistan’s now-defunct National Directorate of Security (NDS). He was released after three months in custody.