The Taliban has banned the participation of Afghan Shiites in the Arbaeen pilgrimage walk.
In a section of the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs letter to the head of Afghanistan’s Hajj department, it is stated that due to the issues in Iraq and the insecurities there, as well as the lack of agreement from the Iraqi government regarding the presence of Afghan pilgrims in the country, no pilgrim from Afghanistan can travel to Iraq this year.
The head of the Union of Tourism and Pilgrimage Companies in Kabul has also said that the Taliban has warned that if any individual or company from anywhere in Afghanistan independently sends pilgrims to Iraq, they will face serious consequences from the group.