Amnesty International has revealed that Taliban extrajudicially killed 13 Hazaras including a 17-year-old girl two weeks after the militant group took over Kabul in mid-August.
On August 30, two civilians and 11 members of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) were killed in a village in the Daykundi province. The slain individuals were trying to flee before the arrival of the Taliban, as per the Amnesty International The human rights watchdog issued a statement to this effect on October 5.
Further, the statement quotes eyewitnesses as saying that nine of the Afghan national security forces were killed despite surrendering to the Taliban. Amnesty International has termed their atrocities ‘war crimes’.
It also claimed to have reviewed photos and videos showing the bodies of the 11 slain men lined up. Many of the corpses showed bullet wounds to heads.
“These cold-blooded executions are further proof that the Taliban are committing the same horrific abuses they were notorious for during their previous rule of Afghanistan,” Amnesty Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said.
She called on the Taliban-led government to “make clear that such grave violations will not be tolerated, and that those responsible will be prosecuted.”
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed has rejected Amnesty’s allegations while talking to broadcast service Radio Azadi.
