Former jihadi leader Ismail Khan has called on Iranian authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible for the killing of Maroof Ghulami, head of the Council of Jihadi Commanders in western Afghanistan and a close associate of Khan.

In a message posted on Facebook, Khan said Ghulami had been working to coordinate resistance forces. “We expect the security institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran to seriously pursue this crime and provide a clear report on it,” he wrote.

Ghulami, a vocal opponent of the Taliban and one of Khan’s key allies, was shot dead in his office on Mofatteh Street in Mashhad on Saturday.

Sources close to Khan accused the Taliban of being behind the assassination.

Ghulami had played a leading role in battles against the Taliban in Herat during the summer of 2021. Following the city’s fall, he relocated to Mashhad with a group of military commanders.

Iranian police have not yet commented on the incident.