UN report claims Taliban have killed over 100 ex-Afghan govt officials, others since takeover

Published
37
Afghans walk past a Humvee with a Taliban fighter on it guarding the road in Kabul  January 27, 2022. — Reuters
Afghans walk past a Humvee with a Taliban fighter on it guarding the road in Kabul January 27, 2022. — Reuters

A United Nations report seen Sunday says the Taliban and its allies allegedly killed more than 100 former Afghan government members, security personnel and people who worked with international forces.

The report, an advance copy of which was seen by AFP, describes severe curtailing of human rights by Afghanistan's new fundamentalist rulers. In addition to the political killings, women's rights and the right to protest have also been curbed.

“Despite announcements of general amnesties for former members of the Government, security forces and those who worked with international military forces, UNAMA continued to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances, and other violations towards these individuals,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's report said.

Since the Taliban seized Kabul on August 15, the UN mission in Afghanistan has received more than 100 reports of such killings that it deems credible, the report said.

More than two-thirds of those killings were “extra-judicial killings committed by the de facto authorities or their affiliates.”

Additionally, “human rights defenders and media workers continue to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings,” it said.

The report also detailed a government clampdown on peaceful protests, as well as a lack of access for women and girls to work and education.

“An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down,” Guterres said in the report.

Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover that prompted Western countries to freeze international aid and access to billions of dollars' worth of assets held abroad.

The country was almost entirely dependent on foreign aid under the previous US-backed government, but jobs have dried up and most civil servants haven't been paid for months.

No country has yet recognized the Taliban government, with most watching to see how the group — notorious for human rights abuses during their first stint in power -- restrict freedoms.

With poverty deepening and a drought devastating farming in many areas, the United Nations has warned that half the 38 million population faces food shortages.

The UN Security Council last month unanimously adopted a US resolution to allow some aid to reach desperate Afghans without violating international sanctions.

But there are growing calls from rights groups and aid organisations for the West to release more funds — particularly in the middle of a harsh winter.

Opinion

Editorial

Fixing bond markets
01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

THE plan to deepen the domestic local currency bond market by allowing the public to trade government securities...
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...
Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...