Missing US citizen in Afghan Taliban custody, claims family

An Afghan-American national, who had travelled to Afghanistan for working purposes, has been missing for the past eight weeks, media reports said citing his family member.
Mahmood Shah Habibi, the former Afghan Aviation Authority Chief had recently travelled to Afghanistan is missing since 10 August, Khaama Press reported.
“He has been working as an advisor with a telecom company in Shash-Darak of Kabul for the last three years and he did not have any issues being in Afghanistan after the country’s fall in the hands of Taliban,” Ahmad Shah said, Habibi’s brother told Khaama Press.
“Not only Habibi but 29 other employees of the same company were also arrested on the same day, many of whom were later released”, Ahmad Shah said.
According to the media outlet, the US side confirmed that they are aware of its citizens being detained in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan continues to face an increase in bomb attacks.
At least four people were killed and 25 others were wounded in a blast in the Kabul mosque, the latest in the series of targeted explosions in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
The blast reportedly occurred at a mosque of the Taliban’s Interior Ministry, TOLOnews reported. A Taliban spokesperson said that an investigation is underway and further details will be shared soon, the agency added.
“After a bomb attack in a mosque at the Interior Ministry, Emergency NGO Surgical Centre has received 20 patients – 2 were already dead on arrival,” Kabul’s Emergency Hospital tweeted.
The hospital said this is the 2nd mass casualty the hospital has handled in recent days, and the 23rd of the year so far.
On Saturday, dozens of women from the minority Hazara community protested in Kabul against the terror attack at the Kaaj Educational Centre. The women protestors dressed in black chanted slogans against the genocide of minorities and demanded their rights, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.