Taliban Orders Revenge Killing Spree Using Old Government Records
Taliban members used 'access to employment records'
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The Taliban has killed seven ex-members of Afghanistan’s former U.S.-backed government, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW said it had documented “the summary execution or enforced disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) — military personnel, police, intelligence service members, and paramilitary militia — who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31, 2021.”
The report focuses on cases from the Afghan provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Kunduz, and Ghazni.
HRW had conducted 67 interviews, including 40 interviews carried out in person before presenting their findings.
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They added their finding indicated that “more than 100” government staff had been targeted by the Taliban through forced disappearances and executions.
Taliban members used “access to employment records that the former [Afghan] government left behind” to target their 47 victims, the human rights organization reported.
HRW also noted the ex-employee of the former Afghan state intelligence agency, Baz Muhammad, known as the National Directorate of Security (NDS) — in September in Kandahar province.
“Around September 30, Taliban forces came to his [Muhammad’s] house in Kandahar city and arrested him; relatives later found his body,” according to the report.
“The murder, about 45 days after the Taliban had taken over the country, suggests that senior [Taliban] officials ordered or were at least aware of the killing.”
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“[T]he Taliban leadership directed members of surrendering Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) units to register with them in order to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety,” Voice of America (VOA) noted on November 30 after reviewing HRW’s new report.
As Brietbart reported:
The registrations did not help secure the ex-ANSF members’ safety as advertised but instead marked them for targeted retribution by the Taliban.
Members of the Taliban scrutinized former ANSF members who fell for the fake amnesty system for “ties to particular military, police, militia, and special forces units, or to commanders or former provincial authorities,” HRW detailed. According to the report, the screened individuals were also required to surrender any weapons in their possession to the Taliban, making them especially vulnerable to an eventual “revenge” attack by the group.
HRW reached out to Taliban officials on November 7 to ask about the alleged forced disappearances and killings since August 15. Representatives for the group responded with a lengthy statement that claimed the Taliban had detained some individuals not for “past deeds, but [because] they are engaged in new criminal activities … [and] create problems and plots against the new administration, [and] keep contacts with notorious individuals who fled the country.”
“It is not our policy to kill someone without trial, whether he is from ISIS or from another group,” the Taliban added.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said earlier this year his organization would not seek “revenge” on its opponents, claiming individuals would be “forgiven.”
“We assure you that nobody will go to their doors to ask why they helped,” he said.
As VOA News reported:
In a speech aired on state media Saturday, the Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund - who claims to be Afghanistan’s prime minister - accused former government officials of stirring up trouble.
“Nation, be vigilant. Those leftover from the previous government in hiding are making remarks and are causing anxiety, misleading the people to distrust their government. Nation, be vigilant, that the enemy does not overrun us again, defiant of our holy government, our security,” Akhund said.
Human Rights Watch is calling for continued United Nations scrutiny and investigation of abuses committed by the Taliban.
