Local Elders and Officials Mediate End to Decades-Long Family Feuds in Laghman and Khost

Local authorities and tribal elders have successfully mediated the resolution of several long-standing blood feuds in eastern Afghanistan, bringing an end to decades of conflict between multiple families in Laghman and Khost provinces.

In Mehtarlam district of Laghman province, a thirty-five-year dispute between two families in Haiderkhani was formally concluded following mediation efforts by community leaders and provincial officials. Sheikh Mohammad Salim Haqqani, head of the Laghman Ulema Council, confirmed that the prolonged conflict had resulted in the deaths of five individuals from each side before the reconciliation was finalized. He stated that all involved parties have pledged to coexist peacefully and abandon retaliatory violence.

Similar mediation efforts have yielded results in neighboring Khost province. Officials from the provincial Directorate of Borders, Tribes and Ethnic Affairs, alongside local elders, brokered an agreement to end a separate dispute in Turko, located in Bak district, which had previously left one person dead.

In addition to the Turko settlement, a broader reconciliation was recently facilitated among four families across the Bak, Sabri, and Yaqubi districts of Khost. These families had been engaged in conflict for several decades. Representatives from the mediating bodies emphasized that these agreements were reached through traditional dispute resolution mechanisms and direct dialogue, with all signatories committing to uphold the terms of the truce. The resolutions highlight ongoing efforts by provincial authorities and religious councils to address tribal disputes through community-led mediation rather than judicial intervention.