TALIBAN BRUTALLY KILL NINE MEN OF HAZARA MINORITY

A man belonging to Hazara minority in Afghanistan was strangled to death and his arm muscles were sliced off. According to human rights group Amnesty International, the Taliban tortured and killed nine men of the Hazara minority and looted their homes in Ghazni province in early July. The report said that six Hazara men were shot while three of them were tortured to death. Amnesty International spoke to a number of people who were witnesses to the brutal killings that took place between 4 and 5 July in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district.

The Hazara community is Afghanistan’s third-largest ethnic group, which mainly practises Shia Islam. According to BBC report, it has long faced discrimination and persecution in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Agnès Callamard, secretary-general, Amnesty International, “The cold-blooded brutality of these killings is a reminder of the Taliban’s past record, and a horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring.”

On 3 July 2021, fighting intensified in Ghazni province between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Following this, around 30 families fled their homes to take shelter in traditional iloks, their summer grazing land in the mountains but due to the shortage of food, a few men and women went back to their homes to collect supplies. And they witnessed how the Taliban looted and destroyed their homes. Some men who passed through Mundarakht on their way home were ambushed. They said that the Taliban were awaiting their return.

Eyewitnesses revealed how a 63-year-old man working for the Afghan government was strangled to death with his own scarf and his arm muscles were sliced off. Many bodies were thrown into nearby creeks, while those with bruises and broken arms and legs were buried.

While speaking to Amnesty International, one eyewitness, who assisted with the burials, said, “We asked the Taliban why they did this, and they told us, ‘When it is the time of conflict, everyone dies, it doesn’t matter if you have guns or not. It is the time of war’.”

“These targeted killings are proof that ethnic and religious minorities remain at particular risk under Taliban rule in Afghanistan,” said Agnès Callamard.

The report further added how mobile phone services were snapped in those areas captured by the Taliban to prevent information about the killing from passing around.

Amnesty International called on the United Nations and urged it “to adopt an emergency resolution demanding that the Taliban respect international human rights law, and ensure the safety of all Afghans regardless of their ethnic background or religious beliefs”.